Offshore staff
HOUSTON — EOG Resources said it has no plans to alter its strategy around new natural gas drilling, despite a sharp decline in prices this year, Reuters reported.
Rival producers, including Chesapeake Energy, Southwestern Energy and Comstock Resources, have said this month they are pulling back on drilling after US gas prices tumbled 50% this year.
EOG has been ramping up activity in the Dorado natural gas play in South Texas and in fields offshore Trinidad and Tobago. The company said Dorado accounts for about 50% of its gas output.
EOG expects gas demand longer-term to benefit as new LNG projects come online, CEO Ezra Yacob told investors during a conference call.
"Dorado always has been kind of a longer-term strategy for us. We've always focused on having moderate investment there to grow into the growing demand center along the Gulf Coast," he said. "It's never really been about chasing seasonal demand or aggressively ramping up activities in that play."
The company, which has term contracts for about 45% of its drilling rigs and 65% of its frac fleets, said it might take advantage of softer contract prices this year.
The company will begin construction on a second gas platform offshore Trinidad this year, with a drilling rig arriving there in the third quarter, about six months behind its original plan, Reuters reported.
EOG reported fourth-quarter 2022 Trinidad production of 0.5 Mbbl/d of crude oil and condensate and 149 MMcf/d natural gas. The company expects its first-quarter 2023 Trinidad production range to be 0.4 Mbbl/d to 0.6 Mbbl/d of crude oil and condensate, 135 MMcf/d to 165 MMcf/d natural gas, and 22.9 Mboe/d to 28.1 Mboe/d crude oil equivalent.
02.24.2023
