Oklahoma

Thomas Boone Pickens Jr., who turned a borrowed investment to launch an oil company into billions of dollars, died Tuesday, leaving behind a legacy that will not be easily matched. He was 91.

Oil and natural gas producers with assets across the Midcontinent are tailoring capital spending to the Bakken Shale in North Dakota, as well as parts of the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma that are higher in oil content.

Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp. plans to develop more acreage in the Permian Basin and is considering bolt-on acquisitions, management said during a recent call to discuss second quarter results.

Recent corporate developments among Oklahoma oil and gas producers have called into question the solidity of returns on investment in the state, but producers and some analysts see value persisting in the prolific Anadarko Basin.

White Star Petroleum LLC, founded by the late Aubrey McClendon, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is exploring strategic alternatives including a possible sale of the company.

Newly formed Red Wolf Natural Resources LLC has acquired 56,000 net acres and associated production in Oklahoma’s myriad reservoirs that include the Anadarko Basin.

Chaparral Energy Inc. said it’s finished drilling a spacing test in Oklahoma’s Sooner Trend of the Anadarko Basin mostly in Canadian and Kingfisher counties (STACK) during the first quarter and has several additional tests planned for 2019.

Oklahoma City-based Roan Resources Inc. said it has formed a board committee to evaluate a potential sale or merger after receiving multiple unsolicited offers.

Continental Resources Inc. said it was ahead of schedule with a multi-year program to develop oil and liquids-rich assets in Oklahoma’s stacked reservoirs, but it will hold the line on spending, even as a rebound in oil prices is projected to bring close to $1 billion in free cash flow by year’s end.