4Q2011

Gulfport Energy Corp. officials have reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Utica Shale, unveiling details of an accelerated, but cheaper, drilling plan coordinated with the construction of much-needed infrastructure in the play.

Continuing to focus ever more sharply on liquids-rich and oil projects, Range Resources Corp. has entered into an agreement to sell for $275 million some of its gassier Permian Basin properties in New Mexico and West Texas.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s profits climbed 6% year/year in 4Q2012, with annual earnings jumping 9%, despite a steep fall-off in global natural gas and oil production, the supermajor reported on Friday. Until natural gas prices are revived, the producer will direct most of North American unconventional spending on liquids and oil, the investor relations chief said Friday.

Monster U.S. oil supply growth will force domestic producers to curtail onshore activity in the upcoming weeks but it won’t be soon enough for 2013 oil prices, which likely will be “uglier than expected,” Raymond James & Associates Inc. analysts said Monday.

North American margins for Halliburton Co. likely have been impacted “more than anticipated” in the second quarter because of the increased cost of guar gum, an additive used in hydraulic fracturing fluids, the oilfield services company said late Wednesday.

Companies participating in NGI’s quarterly North American natural gas marketer survey reported nearly the same results in 4Q2011 as in the year-ago period, and a 1% decline in full-year 2011, compared with 2010. read more

QEP Resources Inc. said Thursday it would devote most of its capital expenditures (capex) for the 2012 fiscal year to crude oil and liquids-rich natural gas plays, and would look to boost annual production.

Triad Hunter LLC, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., has closed on a $24.8 million acquisition of approximately 15,558 gross (12,186 net) acres in southeastern Ohio’s Utica Shale from an undisclosed seller, the company said Friday.

While reporting a big increase in 4Q2011 and full-year profits, Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) CEO Stephen Chazen on Wednesday said the permitting process for drilling in California had been streamlined, and he credited Gov. Jerry Brown for the turnaround.