Range Res. 2018 Budget & 5 Yr Outlook: Focus on SWPA Marcellus
Yesterday Range Resources released a pair of press releases. One outlines a high level overview for what the company will spend in 2018 and beyond, for the next five years. The other release trumpets Range's "proved reserves." As for 2018, Range says they are reducing the amount of money they will spend to drill this year versus what they spent last year. Range previously said they would spend $1.15 billion this year. That's now been reduced to $941 million. Last year Range spent $1.27 billion, so this year's spending is down 26% over last year. That's a pretty hefty decrease. The good news is that Range will spend 80% of this year's budget on drilling in the Marcellus, mainly in southwestern Pennsylvania. Even though Range will spend and drill less this year, they predict production will grow another 25%. As for the 5-year outlook, Range says almost all growth will come in the Marcellus (not the Louisiana Haynesville, their other drilling location). Range still has some 3,200 locations where they can drill new wells. Range CEO Jeff Ventura says shale has entered a "new era" of shale development where companies (like Range) have "captured the most prolific resources" and will now switch to focus on returns for shareholders. Translation: We won't be drilling as much as we did in the past so we can concentrate on bottom line profitability. Which explains why Range is spending less this year than last. In the release Range calls the Marcellus its "flagship asset" and clearly signals the company will keep its focus here, in our region. As for proved reserves (how much gas and oil is in the ground, retrievable with today's technology and at today's costs), Range says proved reserves as of December 31 increased by 26% from the prior-year, now at 15.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe). That's alotta gas! We have the Range announcements below, along with an updated PowerPoint slide deck chocked full of useful information...
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