Independents

Two Texas-based independents, Ultra Petroleum and Denbury Resources Inc., are forecasting continued success from their North American-based exploration and production programs following strong gains this year.

It was nothing but good quarterly financial news for both majors and many of the large U.S.-based independent producers last week, which attributed their substantial earnings increases in most cases to higher commodity prices. However, production numbers were not as keen, especially for domestic operations, with only a handful of companies offering positive news for natural gas and oil-equivalent volumes.

Both North American majors and independents reported strong earnings Wednesday in a barrage of quarterly financial reports, but production results continued to be mixed. ConocoPhillips blamed seasonal declines, asset sales and scheduled maintenance for its production shortfall, and it was the same story at Amerada Hess Corp. and Kerr-McGee Corp. Of those reporting, only Noble Energy Corp. reported production gains — up 4% over a year ago.

While getting more attention in recent projections from state energy planners, one of California’s most vociferous independent oil/gas producers is eyeing the long shot possibility it might be able to purchase some of the smaller properties that ChevronTexaco is considering selling among its vast producing properties in the state’s sprawling central valley.

Three large and gas-heavy North American independents, Pioneer Natural Resources Co., Nexen Inc. and Pogo Producing Co., revealed encouraging second quarter production reports last week, with the best news coming from the companies’ operations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Pogo Producing Co. became one of the first independents to report second quarter numbers on Tuesday, with natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons production both up for the quarter, and earnings more than doubled from a year ago. Encouraging production results in the Gulf of Mexico also convinced the Houston-based producer to increase its ’03 capital budget 11%.

Two Tulsa-based independents, Unit Corp. and PetroCorp, agreed to merge last week in a combination stock-and-cash deal valued at $190 million. In the transaction, the gas-heavy Unit will acquire PetroCorp’s 55 Bcfe of proved reserves using two million of its shares and cash on hand.

Two Tulsa-based independents, Unit Corp. and PetroCorp, agreed to merge Tuesday in a combination stock-and-cash deal valued at $190 million. In the transaction, the gas-heavy Unit will acquire PetroCorp’s 55 Bcfe of proved reserves using two million of its shares and cash on hand.

The past year has been relatively quiet for many North America independent producers, but with natural gas prices remaining high, many have begun to ramp up production across the continent and especially in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Although they are loathe to offer production projections going forward, positive results should show up by the end of the second quarter, executives said Tuesday at the UBS Warburg Energy Conference in Scottsdale, AZ.