Abraxas Petroleum Built Around Solid Conventional Assets; Expanded Capital Program of $60 million for 2011; Most of its capex is going to producing more oil!!

Abraxas reported 2010 year-end reserves totaled 26.6 mmboe up 7% over 2009 despite selling 9% of proved reserves in our divesture program. The company operates wells in the Bakken, West Texas, South Texas, and Canada. Abraxas has outside operated wells in the Bakken. Most of its capex is going to producing more oil. Its goal this year 2011 is to try to get to a 50% oil/gas mix. In the Eagle Ford, it would like to accelerate its partnership with the JV. Last year it had asset sales of $34 million (non-core and non-operated). The money is used for this year's capex and to pay down debt. It would like to eventually get 90% of its assets operating.

Source: Derrick Petroleum E&P Transactions Database

Currently, Abraxas has south and West Texas conventional assets, Eagle Ford and northern Rockies and Canada conventional resource plays, including the Bakken and the Niobrara.

Abraxas has 8,333 acres in Eagle Ford. This location, part of a $25 million equity investment, is 43% oil, 35% gas/condensate, and 22% gas window. The company also has approximately 14,000 acres in the Niobrara shale, with 3,800 gross acres leased and 11 producing wells. Its holdings are in the same area with Chesapeake (CHK) and EOG Resources. In the Southern Alberta Bakken it has approximately 10,000 acres leased. Abraxas also has a small holding in the Pekisko Fairway in Canada.

Abraxas' Rocky Mountain assets has 7.2 MMBoe in proven reserves; 63% of this is proved developed, 82% is crude oil, with 1063 Boepd of production, 900 gross producing wells, and 90,362 gross acres. Primary locations here are the Willston Basin, Powder River Basin, Green River Basin, and Unita Basin.

The Permian Basin has 5.6 MMBoe of proved reserves; 66% proved developed; 70% is natural gas. There is also 1254 Boepd of production; 237 gross producing wells; 36,064 acres, The primary producing sub-basins are the Delaware Basin and Eastern Shelf.

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The Gulf Coast has 9 MMBoe of proved reserves; 38% is proved developed; 91% is natural gas; 1044 Boepd of production. This area has 74 gross producing wells, and Abraxas has 11,414 acres in the area. The primary sub-producing basin is the Onshore Gulf Coast.

This company looks to be another oil and gas exploration and production company with great assets that, in time, could turn into something great if everything works out. It is well positioned, especially if oil gets up to around a $100 a barrel and stays there for a while.

Rosneft and Lukoil team up to jointly explore Arctic shelf

Rosneft will open its licencing zones to Lukoil off of Russia's oil-and-gas-rich Arctic Yamal peninsula.

Given the successful development of their mutual cooperation, and with the goal of raising the profitibility of existing projects, Rosneft and Lukoil have agreed to join forces in the following areas:

• Oil exploration & development, development and transportation of hydrocarbons in the license areas of the Nenets Autonomous District;
• Exploration in the areas licensed to Rosneft on Russia’s Arctic shelf and development of fields that are already open, within the framework of current Russian legislation;
• Development of the market for domestic petroleum products, petrochemicals, gas processing and base oils;
• Joint marketing of associated and natural gas from fields in the Bolshekhetskaya and Vankor zones;
• Joint deliveries of petroleum products, liquefied gas and petrochemical products to the distribution and production facilities of both companies;
• Development of solutions for improving production efficiency for petrochemical products, oil and gas, in Russia and abroad;
• Use of existing logistics infrastructure, including transshipping facilities for crude oil, refined pretroleum products and petrochemical products that are for export; and development and execution of transportation infrastructure projects for petroleum products, including the construction of a product pipeline interconnecting with the "Moscow product ring," and the "South” project.

This marks Lukoil's first offshore deal in Russia since launching the Korchagin oil field in the Caspian Sea last year, Lukoil is also venturing out of Russia, actively seeking US shale gas opportunities (Lukoil planning shale JVs in 2011). Rosneft has been aggressively partnering with foreign majors including BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil for developing its offshore fields.

Key projects of Rosneft and Lukoil:

1. Joint transportation of gas from the Vankor field and the Bolshekhetskaya Depression.
On 12 April 2011, Lukoil and Rosneft signed an agreement, under which Rosneft will independently transport gas from the Vankor field and adjoining license areas to Lukoil’s infrastructure. In turn, LUKOIL will transport gas through its facilities to Gazprom’s gas transportation system. At present, Lukoil and Rosneft are building their own gas pipeline sections and infrastructures.

2. Priazovneft
Rosneft and Lukoil each own a 42.5-percent stake in Priazoneft.  The Administration of the Krasnodar Territory owns the remaining 15 percent. Priazovneft is developing the Temryuksko-Akhtarsk license area on the shelf of the Azov Sea. In 2008, the “New” oil field was opened. The field’s recoverable reserves are: Oil: C1 - 0.87 million tonnes; C2 – 2.25 million tonnes; Gas: C1 – 319 million m3; C2 - 820 million m3. Seismic work is currently underway.

3. Caspian Oil Company
Rosneft and Lukoil each own 49.9 percent of the Caspian Oil Company; Gazprom owns the remaining 0.2 percent. In 2008, the West-Rakushechnaya field in the north-Caspian area was opened. In 2010, an assessment well was drilled at the Ukatnaya structure. Open non-industrial deposit.http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/research/q/Rosneft.htmlhttp://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/research/q/Rosneft.htmlhttp://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/research/q/Lukoil.html