FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) and the documents Ridgewood Energy Y Fund, LLC (the “Fund”) has incorporated by reference into this Annual Report, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to the Fund’s business plans, strategies, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. You are therefore cautioned against relying on any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “plan,” “target,” “pursue,” “may,” “will,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions and references to future periods. Examples of events that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated include weather conditions, such as hurricanes, changes in market conditions affecting the pricing of oil and natural gas, the cost and availability of equipment, and changes in governmental regulations. Examples of forward-looking statements made herein include statements regarding future projects, investments and insurance. Forward-looking statements made in this document speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Fund undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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Overview
The Fund is a Delaware limited liability company (“LLC”) formed on March 25, 2008 to primarily acquire interests in oil and natural gas properties located in the United States offshore waters of Texas, Louisiana and Alabama in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Fund initiated its private placement offering on May 1, 2008, selling whole and fractional shares of membership interests (“Shares”), consisting of Limited Liability Shares of Membership Interests (“Limited Liability Shares”) and Investor GP Shares of Membership Interests (“Investor GP Shares”), primarily at $200 thousand per whole Share. The Limited Liability Shares and the Investor GP Shares constitute a single class of securities as defined in Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). There is no public market for the Shares and one is not likely to develop. In addition, the Shares are subject to material restrictions on transfer and resale and cannot be transferred or resold except in accordance with the Fund’s limited liability company agreement (the “LLC Agreement”) and applicable federal and state securities laws. The private placement offering was terminated on November 7, 2008. The Fund raised $97.8 million and after payment of $16.1 million in offering fees, commissions and investment fees, the Fund had $81.7 million for investments and operating expenses.
Manager
Ridgewood Energy Corporation (the “Manager” or “Ridgewood Energy”) was founded in 1982. The Manager has direct and exclusive control over the management of the Fund's operations. With respect to project investment, the Manager locates potential projects, conducts due diligence and negotiates and completes the transactions in which the investments are made. This includes review of existing title documents, reserve information, and other technical specifications regarding a project, and review and preparation of participation agreements and other agreements relating to an investment. Additional information regarding the Manager is available through its website at www.ridgewoodenergy.com. No information on such website shall be deemed to be included or incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K.
The Manager performs, or arranges for the performance of, the management, advisory and administrative services required for Fund operations. Such services include, without limitation, the administration of shareholder accounts, shareholder relations and the preparation, review and dissemination of tax and other financial information. In addition, the Manager provides office space, equipment and facilities and other services necessary for Fund operations. The Manager also engages and manages the contractual relations with unaffiliated custodians, depositories, accountants, attorneys, broker-dealers, corporate fiduciaries, insurers, banks and others as required.
The Fund is required to pay all other expenses it may incur, including insurance premiums, expenses of preparing and printing periodic reports for shareholders and the SEC, commission fees, taxes, third-party legal, accounting and consulting fees, litigation expenses and other expenses. The Fund is required to reimburse the Manager for all such expenses paid on its behalf.
As compensation for its services, the Manager is entitled to an annual management fee, payable monthly, equal to 2.5% of the total capital contributions made by the Fund’s shareholders, net of cumulative dry-hole and related well costs incurred by the Fund. The Manager is entitled to receive an annual management fee from the Fund regardless of the Fund’s profitability in that year. Management fees for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 were $1.8 million and $1.9 million, respectively. Additionally, the Manager is entitled to receive a 15% interest in cash distributions made by the Fund. Distributions paid to the Manager for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 were $1.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively.
Business Strategy
The Fund’s primary investment objective is to generate cash flow for distribution to its shareholders by generating returns across a portfolio of exploratory or development stage shallow water or deepwater oil and natural gas projects. Distributions are funded from cash flow from operations, and the frequency and amount are within the Manager’s discretion subject to available cash from operations, reserve requirements and Fund operations. The Fund invests in the drilling and development of both shallow and deepwater oil and natural gas projects in the U.S. offshore waters of Texas, Louisiana and Alabama in the Gulf of Mexico, in partnership with exploration and production companies. Although the Fund’s focus is primarily on exploratory oil and natural gas projects, it also investigates and, if appropriate, invests in non-exploratory projects, such as producing projects and projects that have proven undeveloped reserves, some of which may need capital to construct, install or acquire the necessary infrastructure assets, such as rigs, pipelines or other equipment needed to gather, process and transport oil or natural gas. Some of these non-exploratory projects may also contain probable or possible reserves, which could be a factor in the purchase price paid by the Fund to acquire such projects. The Fund rigorously screens and evaluates non-exploratory projects using the same investment screening and selection process used for exploratory stage projects, although, depending on the nature and type of a non-exploratory project, additional or different evaluative tools and processes may be needed by the Fund when evaluating such projects.
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Investment Strategy
The Fund invests its capital with operators through working interest joint ventures with such operators and, in some cases, other energy companies that also own or acquire working interests in the projects. A working interest is an undivided fractional interest in a lease block acquired from the U.S. government or from an operator that has acquired the working interest. A working interest includes the right to drill, produce and conduct operating activities and share in any resulting oil and natural gas production. Operators will generally retain 25% to 50% interests in multiple drilling projects, rather than 100% interests in a few projects, in order to share risk, obtain independent technical validation and stretch exploration budgets that are split across numerous regions of the world. Ridgewood Energy evaluates each project and its operator on an individual project basis, allowing the Fund to invest in what Ridgewood Energy believes are the projects with the most attractive risk/reward ratios. Critical to the success of this approach is the ability of Ridgewood Energy to diversify the Fund’s portfolio across project types and operators. Attributes sought in projects for investment include: depth of scientific analysis and preparation; strong potential project economics and favorable operating agreement terms; similarity to existing producing properties; and expertise of the operator in the proposed region/geology/technical environment. Attractive characteristics of potential and existing operators include industry contacts and relationships, sophisticated geological and geophysical teams and a strong track record of success. For certain of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may pay the operator a “promote” on the cost of the initial exploratory well, representing a larger share of the drilling costs. For a successful well, all of the Fund’s subsequent costs, including completion costs for the exploratory well, the costs of all development wells, infrastructure costs such as production platforms and pipelines, and day-to-day operating costs for the life of the project, would be paid on a proportionate basis to its working interest ownership.
Investment Process
Although Ridgewood Energy’s model of investing fund capital with operators affords it access to industry-leading technical and engineering resources, Ridgewood Energy performs its own due diligence on, and independently evaluates, all of the projects in which the Fund may invest. Ridgewood Energy conducts an initial screening process to identify new project investment opportunities and is selective as to which projects it pursues. Key criteria that form part of the detailed evaluation include the identity of the operator and other partners, the technical quality of the project, access to existing infrastructure, drilling schedule and rig availability and project economics and terms.
Ridgewood Energy maintains an investment committee consisting of five members, which provides operational, financial, scientific and technical oil and gas expertise to the Fund (the “Investment Committee”). Four members of the Investment Committee are based out of the Manager’s Montvale, New Jersey office and one member is based out of the Manager’s Houston, Texas office. Once the technical and economic analyses of a potential project are complete and a project has been deemed to satisfy Ridgewood Energy’s technical criteria, provide an attractive economic risk/reward ratio, and fit within Ridgewood Energy’s diversification strategy, final investment approval is made by the Investment Committee. When reviewing a project for final investment approval, the Investment Committee seeks to balance the economics of the projects, the potential sizes of the projects, project location, the diversity of the operators, and the likely timing of new projects The Investment Committee also considers the geological, financial and operating risks of the proposed project and compares these risks to the existing portfolio of Ridgewood Energy projects. The Investment Committee further focuses on the initial well cost relative to the overall revenue potential of the project.