Oil and Gas Investor Announces 2009 Excellence Awards Winners

HOUSTON, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The editors of Oil and Gas Investor announce the 2009 winners of the magazine's annual Excellence Awards program, which began in 2003. Nominations were received from readers. More information about the winning companies is available at www.oilandgasinvestor.com.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Chairman and CEO James Hackett; McMoRan Exploration Co. Co-Chairman, President and CEO Jim Bob Moffett and other winners will be recognized at the Energy Capital Week Conference in Houston on June 15. (See full agenda at www.energycapitalweek.com.)

2009 Excellence Awards Winners

Executive of the Year: James T. Hackett, Chairman, President & CEO, Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Last year this leading Houston-based company generated a 68% return to shareholders, while cutting costs and spending during the downturn. CEO Hackett has revised the asset portfolio through a series of acquisitions and divestitures to focus on high-margin, high-growth plays. Today, Anadarko holds prominent positions in Alaska, the Rockies, offshore West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and in Mozambique, Brazil and Algeria. In 2009, it announced positions or joint ventures in the Haynesville, Eagle Ford and Marcellus shales and nine deepwater discoveries around the world.

Financing of the Year: Cobalt International Energy Inc.

This Houston company, established with private equity, has built a world-class inventory of drilling prospects offshore Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico, exposing net unrisked potential of about 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent. To test that potential, in 2009 it inked major alliances with Total S.A. and Sonangol. To fund drilling, in December 2009 it closed on the largest E&P-related IPO in three years, raising $957 million at a difficult time in the capital markets, and it did so with no revenue or production yet reported.

Best Discovery: McMoRan Exploration Co.

This New Orleans-based explorer drilled the ultradeep Davy Jones well in 20 feet of water on South Marsh Island 230 on the Gulf of Mexico shelf. The 29,000-foot well has hit 200 net feet of high-quality Wilcox pay below salt, opening a new trend and linking onshore Wilcox fields with the ultra-deepwater Lower Tertiary trend. McMoRan estimates it may have found 2.5 Tcf (trillion cubic feet) of gas at the discovery.

Best Field Rejuvenation: Energen Resources Corp.

Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Energen wins the award for its work in the North Westbrook Unit in Mitchell County, Texas, in the Permian Basin. Since it acquired the 8,100-acre unit in 2006, Energen has drilled 254 producers and 163 injectors. It has grown production from 900 barrels of oil per day to some 4,900 barrels per day at present. Of historical note, North Westbrook Unit is in the 90-year-old Westbrook Field which contains the #1 Abrams, the first paying producer in the Permian Basin. The original 1920 wellbore still makes oil in commercial quantities and is operated by Energen.

Best Corporate Turnaround: Brigham Exploration Co.

Brigham, headquartered in Austin, Texas, successfully raised capital several times in the difficult environment of 2009. It has seen its stock price appreciate and its production grow rapidly, mainly due to its leading position in North Dakota's Bakken shale play. Thanks to multistage fracture treatments and horizontal drilling, the company is reporting exceptional well results. Through investor conferences and roadshows, the company continues to tell investors its solid growth story.

Best Corporate Citizen: Range Resources Corp.

This Fort Worth-based company has been in the forefront of promoting safety, environmental protection and community relations in the Marcellus shale play. In 2009, the company launched safety training and prepared an educational video for volunteer fire departments and other first responders in the Marcellus shale region in Pennsylvania. It also emphasizes water management and water recycling in its operations.

Meet the Excellence Awards Winners at Energy Capital Week, June 15

The award winners will be recognized at Hart's Energy Capital Week Forum on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, at the Omni Houston Hotel on Woodway. To learn more and register for the Energy Capital Forum, visit: www.energycapitalweek.com/ForumAgenda.

Based in Houston, Hart Energy Publishing's market-leading products include Oil and Gas Investor, E&P, PipeLine and Gas Technology and FUEL magazines. Hart also offers online information services OilandGasInvestor.com, A-Dcenter.com, EPmag.com, and UGcenter.com. It produces newsletters, including Oil and Gas Investor's A&D Watch and Gas Processors Report, custom publishing products, and upstream conferences such as Developing Unconventional Gas (DUG).  

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SOURCE Oil and Gas Investor