By Saabira Chaudhuri
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) said it has hired Bank of America
Corp. (BAC) to market some of its Permian Basin properties in
southeast New Mexico and West Texas as the company looks to fund
projects in 2013 like drilling and recompletions, and focus on the
Marcellus liquids-rich area and its Horizontal Mississippian
play.
Range said its $1.3 billion capital spending budget includes
about $1.1 billion for drilling and recompletions, $100 million for
leasehold and renewals, $75 million for pipelines and facilities
and $25 million for seismic.
The company noted that about 85% of the budget will be targeted
toward liquids-rich and oil projects predominately in the Marcellus
Shale and Horizontal Mississippian plays.
Range said the Marcellus liquids-rich area and its Horizontal
Mississippian play have the highest estimated rates of return in
its portfolio. Range has a combined acreage position in these two
areas of about 500,000 acres providing a multi-year growth
platform.
It said it will reduce dry gas drilling activity, primarily in
northeastern Pennsylvania where it will reduce its activity from
four to five rigs in 2012 to one rig in 2013.
In October, Range said its third-quarter production jumped 47%
from a year earlier, due to success of the company's drilling
program in the Marcellus and horizontal Mississippian oil
plays.
That same month, the independent producer reported that it had
swung to a third-quarter loss as hedging losses weighed on
bottom-line results, though production volumes increased.
Shares closed Tuesday at $64.67 and were inactive in recent
premarket trading. The stock has fallen 8.6% in the past three
months.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@dowjones.com
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