Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas said yesterday it expects recordreserve additions this year and a rapid in crease in drillingduring the fourth quarter compared to the historical lull thatoccurs late in most years. Just in the last 45 days the company hasclosed five acquisitions, investing $35 million to purchase 45 Bcfof proved reserves.

“The combination of solid results from both drilling activitiesand acquisitions is expected to result in a record volume of provedreserves added this year,” said CEO Mark Monroe. “The previousrecord was in 1997 when we added a total of 358 Bcfe of provedreserves. Typically, we plan for somewhat reduced drilling activityin the fourth quarter. This year, we have increased our drillingbudget by $10 million to $220 million in order to maintain a highlevel of drilling operations through the end of the year.”

During the three months ended Sept. 30, the company completed169 of 176 wells drilled in its Gulf Coast, Permian andMidcontinent regions. For the first nine months of the year, 371wells have been drilled with a 95% success rate.

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