Parallel looking for deals in 2004

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

Small exploration and production independent Parallel Petroleum, whose 2003 fourth-quarter net income soared to $1 million from $200,000 a year earlier on strong production and commodity prices, said March 18 that it wants to do more deals this year.

“We are actively working on acquisition and exploitation joint venture targets but do not presently have any definitive agreements in place,” Parallel President Larry Oldham said. Earlier the company outlined a projected three-year investment plan of about $50 million on its existing portfolio of projects, of which about $17 million was estimated to be spent in 2004 from operating cash flow.

For full-year 2003, Parallel’s oil and gas production volumes increased 106 percent to 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent compared to the previous year’s 576,000 barrels of oil equivalent, while commodity prices during the same period jumped 36 percent.