Spurred by the success of a refocused strategy unveiled last year, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. on Wednesday added $300 million to its 2005 capital budget to build up its U.S. operations in three major areas: onshore acquisitions and drilling; coalbed methane (CBM) operations in Wyoming; and additional deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration.

The company now expects to spend $3.1-3.3 billion for capital operations in 2005. The Houston-based explorer unveiled its stepped up U.S. plans during an analyst and investor conference. Among other things, Anadarko said it remains on track to deliver 5-9% in annual volume growth through 2009, aided by a portfolio that includes an additional net risked resource potential of 2.1 billion boe.

CEO Jim Hackett said the net risked resource potential is in addition to Anadarko’s year-end 2004 proved reserves of 2.4 billion boe. “About half of these potential new resources are related to properties we are already developing,” he said. “The remainder are attributable to exploration prospects in our portfolio, including a substantial number of unconventional resource play opportunities onshore North America.”

In the past 12 months, Anadarko has undergone an internal restructuring that involved selling $3.5 billion (pretax) of nonstrategic assets, while it retired $1.4 billion in debt and repurchased $1.5 billion of common stock.

“Last June we set an aggressive game plan, and today we’re continuing to deliver on that plan,” Hackett said. “Our success over the past year demonstrates our ability to deliver on our growth projections through 2009.”

Besides the projected annual production growth, Hackett said Anadarko expects to reach 4-6% annual reserve growth and 6-10% annual cash flow growth.

“We’re also positioning ourselves for growth beyond 2009 by capturing and advancing new projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Indonesia, Qatar, the Georgia Black Sea and North and West Africa as well as our liquefied natural gas project in Canada,” he said.

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