Anadarko

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is betting that its offshore expertise and operational efficiencies will give it the upper hand after agreeing to pay $2 billion-plus for the ailing Gulf of Mexico deepwater portfolio of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX).

The free cash flow generated by Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s $2 billion-plus purchase of the Freeport McMoRan Inc. (FCX) Gulf of Mexico (GOM) portfolio will be a catalyst to increase spending and the rig count in the Permian and Denver-Julesburg (DJ) basins, CEO Al Walker said Tuesday.

Darrell Hollek, who joined Anadarko Petroleum Corp. as a field engineer in 1980, has been promoted from executive vice president (EVP) of U.S. onshore exploration and production to EVP of operations with responsibility for domestic, exploration, production and midstream activities, as well as Gulf of Mexico and international business. Ernie Leyendecker, formerly senior vice president of international exploration who joined Anadarko in 2002, has been named EVP of international and deepwater exploration. EVP Bob Daniels, who has run international and deepwater exploration, is to continue and remain a member of the executive committee until his retirement later this year. EVP Jim Kleckner, who has been running international and deepwater operations, also is retiring.

Devon Energy Corp. increased 2016 production guidance by 3% and may add up to seven rigs across the Permian and Anadarko basins by year’s end as cost reduction efforts improved the bottom line and onshore resource plays once again topped expectations.

The management team of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is becoming more optimistic that crude oil prices will increase to $60/bbl and remain “sustained” into 2017, allowing operations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), as well as the Permian and Denver-Julesburg (DJ) basins, to expand by later this year, CEO Al Walker said Wednesday.

Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp. agreed Monday to pay $888 million for PayRock Energy Holdings LLC, which would give it another 61,000 net surface acres and 9,000 boe/d net production in the stacked reservoirs of Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin.

Denver-based FourPoint Energy LLC said it will continue to look for more transactions to beef up its onshore portfolio after tripling its staff and offices through its buyout of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s remaining Anadarko Basin properties.

Although Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is “incredibly excited” about opportunities developing in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Permian basins, the company said it is even more enamored of tiebacks in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and plans to devote future divestiture income there.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. stands ready to execute, once prices stabilize, on a big stack of domestic opportunities in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Permian basins, as costs are coming down and efficiencies are moving up.