Anadarko plans to drill up to 25 deepwater wells in 2014

Anadarko Petroleum is planning to drill up to 25 deepwater wells in 2014, the company’s chairman, president and CEO has said. The comment came as the company revealed its 2014 capital expectations and guidance.

“We expect this capital plan to enable us to increase year-over-year ' same-store' sales volumes by 6 to 7 percent. Driving this year-over-year growth is an expected increase in our oil production of approximately 40,000 barrels per day,” said Al Walker.

"During 2014, Anadarko expects to drill up to 25 high-potential deepwater exploration/appraisal wells. Additionally, we plan to continue accelerating value through active portfolio management and monetizations, as demonstrated by the recently announced divestiture of our non-operated assets in Bohai Bay, China, and the closing of our sale of a 10-percent working interest in Mozambique' s Offshore Area 1 to OVL."

Total 2014 capital investments are expected to be $8.1 to $8.5 billion, excluding capital investments associated with Western Gas Partners, LP, a separate publicly-traded entity controlled by Anadarko and included in its consolidated financial statements.

More than 80 percent of Anadarko' s 2014 U.S. onshore capital investments will be allocated toward oil and liquids-rich opportunities. The company expects to increase its total U.S. onshore year-over-year same-store sales volumes by more than 10 percent to more than 625,000 boe per day for full-year 2014, including an approximate 50,000 barrels-per-day increase in liquids volumes. Much of this growth is expected to be driven by the company' s Wattenberg Horizontal program in Colorado, its Eagle Ford shale development in South Texas, and other liquids-rich growth plays, including the Wolfcamp shale in West Texas and the East Texas/North Louisiana area.

The Wattenberg Horizontal program generates the strongest returns in Anadarko' s U.S. onshore portfolio and is expected to achieve significant growth in 2014. The company plans to operate approximately 13 rigs in the Wattenberg field during the year and drill more than 360 wells.

Anadarko also is accelerating its operated activity in the Wolfcamp oil play where it has evaluated about 20 percent of its approximate 600,000-gross-acre position. The company has already identified more than 1,000 drilling locations in this de-risked area of the Wolfcamp, with significant additional upside as it evaluates the remaining acreage and potential stacked-pay intervals. In 2014, the company expects to operate eight to 10 rigs, with plans to drill more than 80 wells.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Anadarko is on schedule to achieve first oil from its 80,000 barrels-of-oil-per-day Lucius development late in the second half of 2014. The company' s Heidelberg development also remains on track, with spar construction more than 75-percent complete and first oil expected in 2016.

Anadarko' s 2014 deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration/appraisal program is focused on building upon the tremendous success achieved in the Shenandoah basin in 2013, which is emerging as one of the largest oil accumulations ever discovered in the Gulf. Appraisal activity at the Coronado, Yucatan and Shenandoah discoveries in the Shenandoah basin highlights the company' s six-to-eight-well Gulf program in 2014.

In 2014, Anadarko expects to realize a full-year' s benefit of oil production from the El Merk project in Algeria. El Merk, which recently achieved net production of more than 30,000 barrels per day, is expected to contribute to at least a 30-percent year-over-year increase in sales volumes from Algeria during 2014.

In Ghana, Anadarko and its partners have awarded major contracts and are advancing development of the TEN complex, which is expected to achieve first oil in 2016. In Mozambique, the company' s 2013 appraisal and exploration activities increased its estimated recoverable natural gas resources to a range of 45 to 70-plus Tcf in Offshore Area 1, up from the previous range of 35 to 65-plus Tcf. The company' s 2014 program in Mozambique is focused on advancing the development toward first LNG cargoes in 2018.

The company' s international exploration/appraisal program includes 15 to 18 planned deepwater wells, primarily in East and West Africa.

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