Russell down on GDP, Edge Petroleum sees record production
Shares of Houston-based oil and gas explorer Edge Petroleum Corp. (Nasdaq: EPEX) are trading higher on news after Thursday’s close that the company expects first-quarter production to rise to record levels. At 10:10 a.m. ET shares were up $0.21, or 1.54%, to $13.81.
Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 was down 2.68 points, or 0.32 percent, to 831.12, following news before the start of trading that U.S. GDP grew only 1.3% in the first quarter of 2007.
Edge Petroleum estimates its first-quarter production was 5.7 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), a 33% increase compared with 4.3 billion cubic feet equivalent in the same period a year earlier. The company’s production capacity got a boost on Jan. 31, when Edge closed the largest acquisition in its history, acquiring approximately 123 Bcfe of proved reserves located in the Texas Gulf Coast.
“Our drilling activities, production level and 3-D seismic acquisition efforts were about as we expected in the first quarter,” Executive VP and COO John O. Tugwell said in a statement. “Much of our first quarter effort was focused on the due diligence and integration of all the components of the acquisition into our existing portfolio.”
Looking ahead, Edge said it’s on track to drill 80 to 90 wells in 2007.
