EXCO Resources Inc. grew oil and natural gas production by 70% in the fourth quarter compared to the year-ago period, the company said. In 4Q2010 EXCO produced 32.2 Bcfe, or 350 MMcfe/d. Expectations are that 2011 production will average 520-580 MMcfe/d.

During 2010 EXCO added 646 Bcfe of proved reserves through the drillbit and produced 112 Bcfe, resulting in a production replacement ratio of 576%.

“The increased production highlights the success of our Haynesville Shale drilling program, where we produced 19 Bcf (206 MMcf/d), representing 59% of our total production during the fourth quarter 2010 compared with 4.3 Bcf (47 MMcf/d), or 23% of our total production, in the pro forma fourth quarter 2009,” EXCO said.

The company’s estimated proved reserves have grown 56%, from 959 Bcfe at the end of 2009 to 1.5 Tcfe at the end of last year, calculated pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission pricing rules. For 2010 the reference price was $4.38/MMBtu for natural gas and $79.44/bbl for oil, which resulted in an adjusted price of $4.37/MMBtu for natural gas and $75.83/bbl for oil.

The company’s 2011 capital budget is $976 million and will fund the drilling and completion of 369 gross (158.9 net) wells, among other activities, EXCO said.

East Texas/North Louisiana is EXCO’s largest division in terms of production and reserves. The primary targets in the region are the Haynesville and Bossier shales. “Currently, our emphasis is on exploitation of our acreage in the Haynesville Shale play, where we hold approximately 76,000 net acres,” EXCO said. “We continue to seek additional acreage that is complementary to our existing acreage, operations and pipeline infrastructure.”

The company said at year-end 2011 it expects net production to exceed 600 MMcfe/d.