Year

Stone Energy Corp. intends next year to continue shifting capital away from its Appalachian Basin assets under a plan that would cut its budget by more than half from 2015 levels and find it spending more heavily in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as it did this year.

It used to be that about half of the operating drilling rigs in the United States were doing their thing in the Lone Star state. Texas only accounts for about 44% of the total now, according to Baker Hughes Inc. And permitting for new drilling in Texas is way down from a year ago.

Tulsa-based Oneok Partners LP is planning to start up a new natural gas processing plant late this month in the heart of the Bakken Shale play in McKenzie County, ND, and that is just the beginning of a series of infrastructure additions slated for the area by the end of next year.

California Resources Corp. (CRC), the year-old spinoff from Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy), reported more losses for 3Q2015. Its CEO promised to complete the first of a series of asset sales to reduce debt by the end of this year, with more to follow.

Apache Corp.’s North American production fell 14% year/year during the third quarter, while writedowns contributed to a $5.66 billion loss. The Permian Basin, its biggest U.S. onshore focus, only has 10 rigs running today, versus 42 a year ago.

Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources confirmed Monday that it is selling its exploration and production (E&P) business in five separate deals, one of which closed last month. Proceeds and tax benefits add up to about $450 million.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy senior officials said Tuesday they are moving ahead on plans for expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Gulf Coast and building more infrastructure in Mexico. But previous plans for creating a master limited partnership (MLP) around some of the company’s profitable assets (see Daily GPI,June 17) have been put on hold due to unfavorable market conditions.

BP plc is becoming more competitive in the Lower 48 onshore following years of neglect, but natural gas prices under $3.00/Mcf Henry Hub put operations under more pressure, the company’s upstream chief said Tuesday.

Weatherford International Ltd. is closing more North American operating facilities and laying off 3,000 more people, putting total workforce reductions at 14,000 this year, as it hunkers down for expected weak market conditions until late next year.