07:43 AM EST, 12/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- STEP Energy Services ( SNVVF ) provided Thursday its 2025 capital budget and financial update for the fourth quarter.

The company said its full-year 2025 capital budget will be $78.9 million, including $46.7 million of optimization capital and $32.2 million of sustaining capital.

STEP also expects its net debt at the close of the fourth quarter to meet its year-end corporate target of about $60 million to $65 million, continuing the deleveraging trend that has seen debt come down from $310 million in 2018.

The company noted that fracturing activity across major North American oil and gas regions slowed during the fourth quarter as high natural gas storage levels and an uncertain commodity price environment pushed operators to prioritize capital discipline over adding capital to their 2024 budgets.

STEP expects activity for the first quarter of 2025 to be robust for Canadian fracturing and coiled tubing in both Canada and the U.S. It added that U.S. fracturing has scheduled work for one crew that will provide steady utilization for much of the quarter.

The company's share price rose 1.7% on Wednesday to a 52-week high of $5.25 on the TSX.