Wall Street Transcript Interview with S.P. Johnson IV, President and CEO of Carrizo Oil and Gas (CRZO)

67 WALL STREET, New York - January 15, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Oil & Gas: Refining, Independent and Major Integrated Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Capital Expenditures and Consolidation Activity - Refining Crude Price Differentials - Frontier Exploration and Development - Shale Drilling Capital Expenditures - Oil and Gas Price Divergence - Oil Price Expectations - LNG Global Pricing Differentials

Companies include: Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (CRZO)

In the following excerpt from the Oil & Gas: Refining, Independent and Major Integrated Report, the CEO of Carrizo Oil & Gas discusses the outlook for his company for investors:

TWST: You achieved record oil production in the third quarter. What factors contributed to that increase, and what is the outlook for oil production in 2013?

Mr. Johnson: We were able to reach the record production numbers because we have shifted our capital and drilling program to focus on the Eagle Ford shale and the Niobrara shale; the Eagle Ford in South Texas, the Niobrara in Northern Colorado. Those are primarily oil plays. So we have been adding oil production consistently really for about two years now and reached this record level. At the current drilling pace we have now, we will grow another 28% in oil production domestically from 2012 through 2013.

TWST: Which do you view as the important shales right now and what is your position in each? And which do you think will become increasingly important over the next two to four years?

Mr. Johnson: We want to keep drilling in these two shales where we are active now. We have also been buying acreage in the southern Utica shale in Ohio and that will become a part of our drilling program probably in 2014 and 2015.

TWST: We spoke at the end of 2011 and your top strategic goals at that time were to ramp up oil production, which we already discussed, reduce your debt to cash flow and to make some progress in the Utica shale. What progress have you made toward the latter two goals over the course of the year?

Mr. Johnson: In 2012 we did one large property sale in the Barnett shale. We also sold our Gulf Coast assets, and we did three different joint ventures with Asian companies to raise drilling capital in Niobrara. So between all those we added about $300 million of liquidity, and that should get our debt to EBITDA down to a level that we're comfortable with and will now let us go forward without needing to do that much rationalization in the future.

TWST: Joint ventures are an important part of your strategy. Can you give us an update on that front - what are the most important recent or potential joint ventures investors should be aware of?

For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.