el paso puts assets up for sale note : the assets for sale are in the midcontinent , rockies , and gulf coast areas . they also play to put certain assets ( like valero ) into their mlp . lb
el paso to sell gulf , midcontinent , rockies assets
el paso corp . added a little more flavor to its $ 2 . 25 billion divestiture plan for next year , pinpointing three major locations - - the gulf of mexico , midcontinent and the rocky mountains - - as areas where assets will be sold by the second quarter of 2002 . the plan , part of a massive overhaul by the management team within the past few days , comes as el paso shores up its balance sheet triggered in part by enron corp . ' s bankruptcy and a host of other problems that have hit the energy industry this year .
according to ralph eads , president of the el paso merchant energy group , the assets are " things that we would have sold previously , but were not in a position to do . " ceo william wise noted that el paso ' s earnings into next year would be " less attributable to divestitures and a reduction in capital and mostly in ( cutbacks ) in the international power business . " wise added that 80 % of el paso ' s earnings before interest and taxes are " things we can point to with specificity . "
the plan was part of a major overhaul announced by the company on wednesday . though the company has not specifically announced which assets it will divest in the next two quarters , eads included these locations on the short list :
gulf of mexico assets , " particularly the deepwater , " where el paso does not have significant interests and some of its shelf properties in the gulf ;
midcontinent assets ;
rockies assets , including properties in the piceance basin .
el paso also is divesting some texas midstream assets to its master limited partnership . these assets include the sale of epgt texas pipeline ( gtt ) - - formerly pg & e gas transmission texas and before that valero - - to el paso energy partners lp ( epn ) . also to be sold are some refinery assets , including the eagle point refinery and some coal assets that had been part of the coastal corp . ( which has since merged with el paso ) .
even with the projected asset sales , eads said that production in 2002 will increase about 2 % , reaching 660 bcfe / d with a capital budget of $ 1 . 7 billion . " the budget is oriented toward drilling and drilling opportunities , " said eads . he said el paso views its exploration and production unit " as a bank , " and expects the unit to generate more than $ 1 billion next year .
operationally , he said el paso is on track to add 1 . 5 bcf from its gulf of mexico and south texas properties , " the strongest drilling performance of any company in the united states . " the major expansion will be in south texas , where eads said el paso has substantial assets . " we have 400 bcfe in south texas fields alone . . . 136 locations left and most of those are not booked . we feel very good about our ability to sustain our production in south texas , " and he added that the company ' s santa fe field was the " best we ' ve ever found . "
el paso puts assets up for sale
note : the assets for sale are in the midcontinent , rockies , and gulf coast areas . they also play to put certain assets ( like valero ) into their mlp . lb
el paso to sell gulf , midcontinent , rockies assets
el paso corp . added a little more flavor to its $ 2 . 25 billion divestiture plan for next year , pinpointing three major locations - - the gulf of mexico , midcontinent and the rocky mountains - - as areas where assets will be sold by the second quarter of 2002 . the plan , part of a massive overhaul by the management team within the past few days , comes as el paso shores up its balance sheet triggered in part by enron corp . ' s bankruptcy and a host of other problems that have hit the energy industry this year .
according to ralph eads , president of the el paso merchant energy group , the assets are " things that we would have sold previously , but were not in a position to do . " ceo william wise noted that el paso ' s earnings into next year would be " less attributable to divestitures and a reduction in capital and mostly in ( cutbacks ) in the international power business . " wise added that 80 % of el paso ' s earnings before interest and taxes are " things we can point to with specificity . "
the plan was part of a major overhaul announced by the company on wednesday . though the company has not specifically announced which assets it will divest in the next two quarters , eads included these locations on the short list :
gulf of mexico assets , " particularly the deepwater , " where el paso does not have significant interests and some of its shelf properties in the gulf ;
midcontinent assets ;
rockies assets , including properties in the piceance basin .
el paso also is divesting some texas midstream assets to its master limited partnership . these assets include the sale of epgt texas pipeline ( gtt ) - - formerly pg & e gas transmission texas and before that valero - - to el paso energy partners lp ( epn ) . also to be sold are some refinery assets , including the eagle point refinery and some coal assets that had been part of the coastal corp . ( which has since merged with el paso ) .
even with the projected asset sales , eads said that production in 2002 will increase about 2 % , reaching 660 bcfe / d with a capital budget of $ 1 . 7 billion . " the budget is oriented toward drilling and drilling opportunities , " said eads . he said el paso views its exploration and production unit " as a bank , " and expects the unit to generate more than $ 1 billion next year .
operationally , he said el paso is on track to add 1 . 5 bcf from its gulf of mexico and south texas properties , " the strongest drilling performance of any company in the united states . " the major expansion will be in south texas , where eads said el paso has substantial assets . " we have 400 bcfe in south texas fields alone . . . 136 locations left and most of those are not booked . we feel very good about our ability to sustain our production in south texas , " and he added that the company ' s santa fe field was the " best we ' ve ever found . "