Newfield Exploration raises production view as Oklahoma bet pays off
June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas producer Newfield Exploration Co said it raised its second-quarter and full-year production forecasts due to better-than-expected output from Oklahoma's high-margin STACK basin.
The STACK, or Sooner Trend Anadarko Basin Canadian and Kingfisher Counties play, lies in the Anadarko Basin, which covers about 60,000 square miles in western Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas, and parts of the Texas Panhandle and southeastern Colorado.
The STACK play has emerged as a top investment priority for several companies, including Marathon Oil and Devon Energy, in the past year largely because the cost to operate wells in the area is lower than other parts of the United States.
"Our Anadarko Basin production continues to exceed expectations," Newfield Chief Executive Lee Boothby said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Recent drilling and completion efficiencies are leading to 'best in class' wells - both in terms of costs and production performance," Boothby said.
Newfield raised its 2016 production forecast to 56-58 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) from 54.5-56.5 mmboe.
The company said the mid-point of its second-quarter production forecast was 15.2 mmboe, 0.5 mmboe higher than its previous forecast.
Newfield said had drilled survey wells over more than 95 percent of its STACK position to appraise the value of the discovery.
The company agreed in May to buy 42,000 net acres in the play for $470 million from Chesapeake Energy Corp.
(Reporting by Manish Parashar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
