UNIT ANNOUNCES COMPANY-RECORD 2007 CAPITAL EXPENDITURE BUDGET
AND PROVIDES OPERATIONS UPDATE
Tulsa, Oklahoma….Unit Corporation (NYSE - UNT), a diversified
energy company with a
consistently growing exploration and production asset base, one of
the largest onshore drilling fleet
operating in the U.S., and a rapidly expanding midstream business unit,
today announced its planned 2007
operating capital budget of $482 million, the largest in the Company’s
45-year history, and certain 2006
operating results of its wholly owned subsidiaries.
Unit Petroleum Company
Unit Petroleum Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $326 million,
excluding
acquisitions, for 2007, of which $280 million is planned for exploration
and development drilling. This
budget represents a 37% increase over the company’s estimated
2006 capital expenditures, excluding
acquisitions. At the end of 2006, Unit Petroleum had spud 248 new wells
and had completed drilling
operations on 233 of those wells. In addition, 11 wells were completed
in 2006 that were spud in 2005
for a total of 244 completed wells. Of the 244 wells, 214 were completed
as producing for a success rate
of 88%.
The company currently plans to participate in the drilling of 270
wells during 2007, an increase of
11% over 2006. Although the Company does not provide quarterly production
forecasts, Unit’s
preliminary 2007 annual guidance is approximately 60.0 billion cubic
feet equivalent. The Company’s
long-time stated goal is to replace each year a minimum 150% of its
production through drilling and
strategic acquisitions, a goal which the Company has successfully met
since 1984.
Unit Drilling Company
Unit Drilling Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $131 million
for 2007, which
represents a decrease of 25% over estimated 2006 capital expenditures.
Unit ended 2006 with a record
117 drilling rigs, having added six rigs to the fleet in 2006. The
company recently completed the building
of its 117th drilling rig, a 750-horsepower, diesel electric rig, and
is in the process of constructing two
additional drilling rigs that will be completed in the first quarter
of 2007. Both of these new rigs will be
1,500 horsepower, diesel-electric drilling rigs and are already under
contract. Of Unit’s current 117
drilling rigs, 110 are under contract. The company has enjoyed having
its rigs at or above 90% utilization
for 12 consecutive quarters, which is above industry-average utilization
rates for the drilling group.
Superior Pipeline Company
Superior Pipeline Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $25
million for 2007. During
2006, Superior completed the installation of a second natural gas treatment
plant on the Panola gathering
system, acquired two natural gas processing plants to be installed
on existing facilities, completed the
acquisition of an additional gathering system and processing plant
and added an additional 100 miles of
pipeline. Currently, Superior's asset base consists of three natural
gas treatment plants, six operated
natural gas processing plants, 37 active gathering systems and approximately
600 miles of pipeline. Also
during 2006, Superior connected an additional 58 wells to its gathering
systems.
Management Comments
Larry Pinkston, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “For
the exploration and production
group, we have increased the number of wells we plan to drill this
year by 11% and anticipate this to be a
positive impact to our operations. We are confident that our high-quality
E&P asset base offers us
multiple ways to realize meaningful growth for our shareholders. During
the period 2003 through 2005,
we increased our reserves 35% on a debt-adjusted per share basis, an
excellent return when you consider
our third quarter 2006 debt-to-capitalization ratio of 12%. Our drilling
operations remain very active,
despite the recent softening in commodity prices. We’re very
pleased with how our drilling customers
continue to turn to Unit, which we believe is a testament to the quality
of our rigs and people. We are
very excited about how Superior Pipeline continues to grow and add
to its asset base. Superior is rapidly
establishing a significant operation in the Arkoma and Mid-Continent
basins, two of America’s important
regional plays for meeting the growing need for natural gas. We look
forward to announcing more 2006
results when they become available.”
Unit Corporation is a Tulsa-based, publicly held energy company engaged
through its subsidiaries in oil and gas exploration, production, contract
drilling and natural gas gathering and processing. Unit’s Common
Stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UNT.
For more information about Unit Corporation, visit our website at http://www.unitcorp.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Securities
Litigation Reform Act that involve risks and uncertainties, including
the amount and value of the
company’s oil and natural gas reserves, the number of future
wells the company’s exploration and
production segment plans to drill, productive capabilities of the wells,
future demand for oil and natural
gas, oil and natural gas reserve information, anticipated production
rates from company wells, the
prospective capabilities of offset acreage, anticipated oil and natural
gas prices, anticipated operational
dates for drilling rigs under construction, future rates to be paid
for the company’s drilling rigs as well as
other development, operational, implementation and opportunity risks,
and other factors described from
time to time in the company’s publicly available SEC reports,
which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expected.