At an analyst meeting yesterday, executives from theOklahoma-City based Kerr-McGee, a major independent oil and gasproducer, outlined the company’s performance in 1999 and allowed afew glimpses into its strategy for next year.

In 2000, the company said it expects gas production to top 600MMcf/d. The increases will mainly stem from the company’s growthstrategy, which will focus on deep-water opportunities. Next year’splans call for 25 to 30 exploratory wells in the Gulf of Mexico,the North Sea and in other international waters. Kerr McGee’sfuture drilling schedule calls for 30 to 35 wells drilled per yearover the next five years.

Among the highlights for the company in 1999 was an 8% increasein production this year over 1998, a 68% success rate forexploratory well discoveries and an expected 130 MMcf/d of addedGulf of Mexico production after wells drilled this year mature.

“Kerr-McGee continued with success and growth throughout 1999and met our commitment to increase volumes, lower unit operatingcosts and create additional value for our shareholders,” said CEOLuke R. Corbett. “While the energy industry experienced extremes incommodity prices this year, Kerr-McGee focused on what we cancontrol, the operating performance of our business units. Themarket has responded favorably to our performance, with stock valueincreasing by more than 42% in the past 11 months.”

During 1999, Kerr-McGee also completed the largest transactionin its history, merging with Oryx Energy Co. “We have successfullyincorporated the assets, staffs and operations of the two companiesand met the projected annualized level of $100 million of pretaxsynergy savings,” he added. The $4 billion Oryx merger wasannounced in October of last year and now that it is complete,Kerr-McGee is the fourth largest independent producer in the UnitedStates.

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