Starting 2001 with a rush of activity, Burlington Resources (BR)announced that it has entered into separate agreements totalingapproximately $385 million with Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd.and ATCO Gas for properties in the Western Canadian SedimentaryBasin with combined net proved and net probable reserves of 497Bcfe. The company also reported that it raised its net income from$1 million for the full year 1999, to $675 million for the fullyear 2000.

The properties purchased from Petrobank, which was first announcedin October, are located in the O’Chiese area of central Alberta, andare in close proximity to existing Burlington properties (see DailyGPI, Oct. 23, 2000). BR purchased 46Bcfe of net proved reserves for $57 million, which included 22,000 netdeveloped acres, and 30,000 net undeveloped. Burlington said theproperty currently produces about 12 MMcf/d of natural gas and 225barrels of liquid per day.

The ATCO Viking-Kinsella properties are located about 75 milessoutheast of Edmonton and are also near existing BR properties. TheATCO properties — which have net proved reserves of about 251Bcfe — were purchased for $328 million. Included in the sale is314,000 net acres over 500 sections with 25% of the total acreageheld in fee. The deal also includes compressor stations andgathering lines. Burlington said the property currently produces 35MMcf/d of gas, but after a planned drilling and workover program,the company believes it can increase net production to 70 to 80MMcf/d of gas.

The Petrobank transaction closed on Jan. 16, while the ATCOacquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of 2001.

BR also released its fourth quarter and full year 2000 earnings,which showed remarkable improvement over last year’s counterparts.The company reported a net income of $304 million ($1.41 pershare), which is a long way from last year’s net income loss of $84million (-$0.38 per share).

Following a recent Burlington trend, the increase in net income onthe quarter was accompanied by a dip in production (see Daily GPI, Oct. 20, 2000). Natural gas sales averagedabout 1,911 MMcf/d during the fourth quarter 2000, while average salestopped 2,090 MMcf/d in the same period last year. Oil volumes alsoslouched in the quarter, as sales totaled 69,700 b/d, compared to88,600 b/d in 1999’s fourth quarter.

“This has been a dramatic year for our industry and for BR,”said Bobby S. Shackouls, Burlington’s chairman. “Our strong cashflow generation capability and premier asset base, along with ouroperational achievements, position us extremely well for thefuture.”

For 2001, the company expects first quarter gas production to bein the range of 1,850 to 2,000 MMcf/d, with most of the gas comingfrom the United States.

©Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.