Laredo predicts capital expenditures at about $725 million for 2013
BY ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2012
Laredo Petroleum Holdings Inc. plans to spend $725 million on capital projects in 2013, the Tulsa-based oil and gas producer announced Monday.
The company’s expenditures next year mainly will focus on development drilling and completion, allocating $525 million toward those projects. Most of the budget will center around its 142,000 net acres in the Garden City area of the Permian Basin in west Texas.
“Our activities in 2012, as planned, have now confirmed four prospective shale intervals on our Garden City acreage, including the Upper, Middle and Lower Wolfcamp and Cline shales, that can be efficiently produced with horizontal wells,” Laredo CEO Randy Foutch said.
“Our 2013 program is designed to continue to de-risk a growing percentage of our core Garden City acreabge for these zones and begin the process of optimizing their development to truly maximize the value of this asset for our shareholders.”
Laredo’s captial budget will include $60 million for exploratory drilling, land, geological and geophysical activities. Another $40 million is earmarked for pipeline infrastructure.
The company hopes to produce between 12.6 million to 13.1 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2013, approximately 15 percent over this year’s estimated production output. Laredo’s capital budget was about $900 million in 2012.
Laredo explores and drills for oil and gas in the Permian Basin and the Granite Wash portion of the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas.
