California’s Aera Energy again No. 1 among private producers in OGFJ100P

Aera Energy LLC again holds a commanding lead as the No. 1-ranked company in total production for 2005.
July 1, 2006
3 min read

Last July, Oil & Gas Financial Journal teamed up with John S. Herold Inc., the highly regarded independent research firm, to publish the first-ever media listing of US-based private E&P companies ranked according to production data. This month, we are publishing year-end 2005 statistics and rankings based on barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

Aera Energy LLC again holds a commanding lead as the No. 1-ranked company in total production for 2005. The Bakersfield, Calif.-based producer is a limited liability company that is jointly owned by affiliates of Shell Oil Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Aera, which began operating in 1997, bested the second-ranked company, Merit Energy Co., by nearly 45.5 MMboe. However, Aera’s total production of just over 77.0 MMboe was down from last year’s total of 83.6 MMboe. In fact, 6 of the top 7 private producers had a decline in production from year-end 2004 to year-end 2005.

One of the largest producers in California, Aera is credited with about 30% of the state’s total oil production. The company operates primarily in the San Joaquin Valley with additional operations in the LA basin and in Ventura and Monterey counties.

Although owned by Shell and ExxonMobil affiliates, Aera is considered a stand-alone company with its own board of managers (directors). The company employs more than 1,100 people plus hundreds of contractor companies.

Dallas-based Merit Energy again came in a solid second in the rankings with production of just over 31.5 MMboe, down from 39.2 MMboe in 2004.

Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Co., which operates more than 90% of its properties, is again ranked No. 2 in total production with nearly 23.3 MMboe. In 2004 Hilcorp’s total production stood at 25.3 MMboe.

The fourth-ranked private E&P company is Yates Petroleum Corp. of Artesia, NM. Overall production was just over 19.2 MMboe in 2005, down slightly from its 2004 total of 20.0 MMboe.

Samson Lone Star LP moved up from the No. 7 position in total production in 2004 to No. 5 last year. The Tulsa-based company increased its production total from 17.3 MMboe to more than 18.2 during this period.

Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co. again occupies the No. 6 position with just under 20.0 MMboe in total production. This figure is up from 18.5 MMboe in 2004.

Walter Oil & Gas Corp. of Houston dropped from the No. 5 position in 2004 to No. 7 the following year, in effect switching places with Samson Lone Star. Walter’s 2005 total was just over 14.1 MMboe compared with approximately 19.3 MMboe the previous year.

Two new companies joined the top 10 producer rankings in 2005. Houston-based Continental Operating Co. enters the OGFJ100P for the first time in the No. 8 position with slightly more than 10.4 MMboe in production. LLOG Exploration, headquartered in Metarie, La., joins the list as the No. 9 ranked private E&P company. LLOG had almost 9.3 MMboe in production.

J-W Operating Co. of Addison, Tex., moved up four positions in the rankings, from No. 14 in 2004 to No. 10. The company also had a jump in production from 8.5 MMboe to 9.0 MMboe in 2005.

Companies that fell out of the top 10 in 2005 include Samson Resources Co. (No. 8 to No. 19); Kaiser-Francis Oil Co. (No. 9 to No. 38); and Bass Enterprises Production Co. (No. 10 to No. 12). Production at Samson Resources fell from almost 12.6 MMboe in 2004 to 6.4 MMboe in 2005. Kaiser-Francis’ production plummeted from nearly 10.8 MMboe in 2004 to just less than 3.9 MMboe last year. Bass Enterprises dropped from just over 10.7 MMboe to not quite 8.0 MMboe during the same period

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