Weighted

Devon Energy Corp., which continues to be weighted to natural gas, said its embrace of North American liquids and oil lifted production to record numbers in the final three months of 2011.

Natural gas-weighted Quicksilver Resources Inc., which has seen its shares trading lately at less than one-third of their 52-week high, last week announced a capital budget and drilling plan intended to hold the fort while it transitions to oil/liquids and shops for joint venture (JV) partners in the Horn River Basin and in West Texas.

Natural gas-weighted Quicksilver Resources Inc., which has seen its shares trading lately at less than one-third of their 52-week high, Tuesday announced a capital budget and drilling plan intended to hold the fort while it transitions to oil/liquids and shops for joint venture (JV) partners in the Horn River Basin and in West Texas.

Southwestern Energy Co. said it will spend slightly less next year in the Fayetteville Shale while it nearly doubles spending in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Overall, Southwestern’s 2012 capital program is pegged at $2.3 billion, up from about $2.1 billion in 2011. Production is expected to climb about 15% from this year.

Canada’s Direct Energy on Friday agreed to pay Encana C$58 million in cash to acquire a package of natural gas-weighted producing assets in the Carrot Creek region of west-central Alberta.

ExxonMobil’s U.S. unconventional natural gas-weighted portfolio, substantially built with the buyout of XTO Energy Inc. last year, now totals 76 Tcfe, which is almost 70% more than the companies recognized at the time of the merger, the investor relations chief said Thursday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s shift to balance its natural gas-weighted portfolio required a lot of spending last year — an estimated $4.7 billion — to acquire liquids-rich property, but the risky outlay already is proving its worth, CEO Aubrey McClendon said this week.

Marathon Oil Corp. said Wednesday it will spend up to $1 billion this year on three of its highest “growth assets,” all U.S. shale projects: North Dakota’s Bakken play, the Eagle Ford in Texas and the Anadarko Woodford in Oklahoma.

Northern Natural Gas issued a System Overrun Limitation for Saturday through Tuesday in all market-area zones (ABC, D and EF) due to lower-than-normal system-weighted temperatures.