XTO Energy, Carrizo Oil & Gas weigh in with record reserves

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

Texas-based exploration and production independents XTO Energy and Carrizo Oil & Gas had record reserves at year-end 2003, the companies said March 2.

XTO said that after a review by independent petroleum engineers Miller and Lents, the company boosted its estimated proved oil and gas reserves to 4.185 trillion cubic feet of gas equivalent, a 24 percent increase compared to year-end 2002.

With help from acquisitions, Fort Worth-based XTO last year added 1.11 tcf of equivalent at a cost of 98 cents per thousand cubic feet and replaced 388 percent of production, the company said. The company’s development program alone replaced 604 billion cubic feet of production at a cost of 77 cents per thousand cubic feet.

XTO increased its natural gas reserves 26 percent to 3.644 tcf of gas with natural gas liquids of 34.7 million barrels, or 92 percent of total reserves. Oil reserves declined 2 percent to 55.4 million barrels. Proved developed reserves accounted for 74 percent of total proved reserves, the company said. And XTO’s reserve-to-production index was 14.7 years.

Houston-based Carrizo reported year-end 2003 proved reserves of 70.4 bcf of gas equivalent based on third-party reserve engineers. That represents an 11 percent increase over year-end 2002 proved reserves of 63.2 bcf of equivalent, the company said.

Carrizo’s proved developed reserves at year-end 2003 increased 20.2 percent to 25.5 bcf of equivalent, while proved undeveloped reserves increased 6.8 percent to 44.9 bcf of equivalent, the company said. Carrizo said it replaced 196 percent of 2003 production.