Range hikes capex 17% to $126 million; quarterly profit falls to $4.6 million

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

Texas-based independent Range Resources has set a 2004 capital expenditure budget of $126 million, a 17 percent increase compared to 2003, the company said March 2, adding that this year’s budget does not include any acquisitions it could make.

Projects this year include the drilling of 409 wells and 35 recompletions, with more than two-thirds of the drilling budget directed toward finding and developing new reserves, the company said. Range expects about 75 percent of the projects to be paid through internal cash flow.

Range said its 2004 spending is allocated about 50 percent to the U.S. Southwest region and 25 percent each to the Gulf Coast and Appalachian regions. The capital program, together with its Conger field acquisition, is anticipated to generate 10 to 15 percent growth in year-over-year production.

However, while the company’s full-year 2003 profit jumped 37 percent to $35.4 million compared to 2002, its fourth-quarter 2003 profit versus the same period a year earlier dropped 5 percent to $4.6 million or 7 cents per share. Remington attributed the decrease in net income to several non-cash items, including a deferred compensation expense, an ineffective hedging loss and an increase in deferred income taxes.