ConocoPhillips

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    Top 10 Energy Companies & Top 10 Drillers Worldwide

    Each year Platts publishes a list  of the top 250 energy companies in the world. They evaluate companies using four metrics: asset value, revenue, profit, and return on invested capital. It probably won’t surprise you to find out that 7 of the top 10 energy companies in the world have a presence in the Marcellus or Utica Shale.

    Here’s the Platts list of the top 10 energy companies in the world for 2012:

    Read More “Top 10 Energy Companies & Top 10 Drillers Worldwide”

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    The 10 Largest Natural Gas Drillers in the U.S.

    Top 10ProPublica recently compiled a list of the top 10 natural gas drillers in the U.S. based on daily natural gas production volume. The list includes gas drilled by both “traditional” vertical drilling as well as “non-traditional” horizontal hydraulic fracturing. Or think of it as non-shale gas and shale gas—companies who drill for both are in the list. The Marcellus Shale represents a good portion of the gas now being produced in the country, but other shale formations, like the more mature Barnett Shale (in Texas) also contribute a substantial volume of natural gas.

    MDN presents this list as a useful resource for landowners. The biggest drillers are not always the best, and not always the right choice for a given landowner and situation. However, knowing who the “bigs” are can be a helpful guide—you know they have the money and the technology to get the gas out of the ground, and they have money to pay for leases and royalties.

    Read More “The 10 Largest Natural Gas Drillers in the U.S.”

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    $25K Per Acre for Lease Deals? Not in the Marcellus — Yet

    An interesting tidbit from a story about energy giant ConocoPhillips. The article, published on the Houston Chronicle’s website, was about recent efforts by ConocoPhillips to “debunk Wall Street’s view that the Houston-based oil major grows by acquisition rather than finding its own oil and gas.” Buried far down the story is a statement (not a direct quote but a summary statement) from Larry Archibald, company vice president of exploration and production. The statement, as summarized by the reporter, was this:

    He [Archibald] said ConocoPhillips shied away from “feeding frenzies” at high-profile shale plays where some companies rushed in and spent $25,000 or more per acre amid the pre-recession boom in gas production. Those plays included the Haynesville in East Texas and northern Louisiana, and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

    He said ConocoPhillips will keep spending in more established plays, such as the Barnett shale near Fort Worth, and the lesser-known Eagle Ford in South Texas, where the company has a leading acreage position.

    Everyone drools to see energy companies spending $25K per acre for leasing rights. But don’t get your hopes up too high. Marcellus Drilling News has not (so far) found any instances of leasing deals that approach anything near $25K per arce. It’s been more like $5K per acre on the high side in the Southern Tier of New York. If you know of high paying deals in the Marcellus, please let us know!

    The other interesting point about the statement is this: It looks like ConocoPhillips will not be a major player in the Marcellus anytime soon, which is unfortunate.

    Read the full article: ConocoPhillips flaunts its exploration finds