Plains Exploration & Production
Encyclopedia
Plains Exploration & Production, commonly known by its New York Stock Exchange
ticker symbol (PXP), is a U.S. petroleum company based in Houston, Texas. A spin-off from Plains Resources, Inc., the company was founded in 2002. Its operations, as of 2009, were all in North America, including California, Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, and offshore of California and in the Gulf of Mexico. The company reported proved reserves of 292 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) at the end of 2008, with a potential total of over 2.2 billion BOE. In 2007, they were the fourth-largest oil producer in California (behind Chevron Corp., Aera Energy LLC
, and Occidental Petroleum
).
As of 2009, their core holdings were gas fields in Wyoming and Colorado; oil and gas fields in Texas, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico; and oil fields in California, both onshore and offshore. In California they are a principal operator on numerous fields, from Cymric
and the South Belridge
in Kern County to Inglewood in Los Angeles County. Many of their active operations are in the Los Angeles basin directly underneath Los Angeles and adjacent cities. Plains reported 2,602 active oil wells in 2008 in California alone. pp. 145–146
A joint venture in 2008 with partner Chesapeake Energy
has given Plains a strong position in the development of the Haynesville shale gas play
in northwestern Louisiana as well as extreme eastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. At the end of 2008, Plains had 113000 acres (457.3 km²) and 50 drilling rigs in conjunction with Chesapeake. As of late 2010, Plains will have closed on the purchase of approximately 60,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford oil and gas condensate windows in South Texas.
Plains attempted to negotiate a complex compromise deal in Santa Barbara County with environmental groups and state regulators in which the firm would be able to drill into the undeveloped Tranquillon Ridge, off the western coast of the county, in return for their decommissioning and doing environmental restoration on the old and mostly played-out Lompoc Oil Field
, which consists of approximately 3700 acres (15 km²) of ecologically-sensitive habitat adjacent to the Burton Mesa Ecological Preserve. As part of the deal, Plains would drill into Tranquillon Ridge only from their existing Platform Irene, and would retire the platform entirely in 2022. The project would give the state of California $2 billion in tax revenues during that time, and Santa Barbara County about $350 million. The County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the project and sent it on to the State Lands Commission, which rejected it by a 2 to 1 vote on January 29, 2009, citing the unenforcability of the sunset clause.
In May 2009, however, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revived the project by including it in a revised budget proposal. While this proposal did not pass, Plains has not given up, announcing that they would continue to try to persuade voters and legislators of the merits of the exchange.
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
ticker symbol (PXP), is a U.S. petroleum company based in Houston, Texas. A spin-off from Plains Resources, Inc., the company was founded in 2002. Its operations, as of 2009, were all in North America, including California, Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, and offshore of California and in the Gulf of Mexico. The company reported proved reserves of 292 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) at the end of 2008, with a potential total of over 2.2 billion BOE. In 2007, they were the fourth-largest oil producer in California (behind Chevron Corp., Aera Energy LLC
Aera Energy LLC
Aera Energy LLC is a natural gas, oil exploration and production company jointly owned by Shell and ExxonMobil headquartered in Bakersfield, California...
, and Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America...
).
History
Plains Exploration & Production (PXP) was a spinoff from Plains Resources Inc., to which it was a subsidiary prior to 2002. Plains Resources at that time was a midstream production and transport company, but they spun off their exploration component on December 18, 2002 in order to focus on marketing, storage, transport, and terminalling of crude oil. PXP grew further through the 2003 acquisition of 3TEC for approximately $313 million, and they acquired Nuevo Energy in May 2004 for $945 million. These acquisitions gave them petroleum-producing assets scattered throughout the southwest and California.Subsidiaries
As of the beginning of 2008, Plains had numerous subsidiaries, including Arroyo Grande Land Company LLC (as Plains runs the Arroyo Grande Oil Field in San Luis Obispo County, California); Nuevo Energy, Nuevo Resources, and Nuevo International; Latigo Petroleum; Montebello Land Company; and Pogo Producing Company, which has branches outside the U.S. (Alberta, New Zealand, Vietnam).Operations
As indicated by its name, Plains is primarily an oil and gas exploration and production company, and has many active petroleum fields in the United States, offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as a prospect offshore of Vietnam. The company's stated strategy is to develop mature fields with a long reserve life, occasionally adding new prospects to maintain a consistent cash flow.As of 2009, their core holdings were gas fields in Wyoming and Colorado; oil and gas fields in Texas, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico; and oil fields in California, both onshore and offshore. In California they are a principal operator on numerous fields, from Cymric
Cymric Oil Field
The Cymric Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County, California in the United States. While only the 14th-largest oil field in California in total size, in terms of total remaining reserves it ranks fifth, with the equivalent of over still in the ground...
and the South Belridge
South Belridge Oil Field
The South Belridge Oil Field is a large oil field in northwestern Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California, about forty miles west of Bakersfield...
in Kern County to Inglewood in Los Angeles County. Many of their active operations are in the Los Angeles basin directly underneath Los Angeles and adjacent cities. Plains reported 2,602 active oil wells in 2008 in California alone. pp. 145–146
A joint venture in 2008 with partner Chesapeake Energy
Chesapeake Energy
Chesapeake Energy is the second largest producer of natural gas in the United States, a top 15 producer of U.S. liquids and the most active driller of new wells, according to an November 2011 investor presentation. It recorded 3Q 2011 natural gas production of an average of approximately of...
has given Plains a strong position in the development of the Haynesville shale gas play
Haynesville Shale
The Haynesville Shale is an informal, popular name for a rock formation that underlies large parts of southwestern Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, and East Texas. It lies depths of 10,500 to 13,000 feet below the land’s surface. It is part of a large rock formation, which is known by geologists as...
in northwestern Louisiana as well as extreme eastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. At the end of 2008, Plains had 113000 acres (457.3 km²) and 50 drilling rigs in conjunction with Chesapeake. As of late 2010, Plains will have closed on the purchase of approximately 60,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford oil and gas condensate windows in South Texas.
Plains attempted to negotiate a complex compromise deal in Santa Barbara County with environmental groups and state regulators in which the firm would be able to drill into the undeveloped Tranquillon Ridge, off the western coast of the county, in return for their decommissioning and doing environmental restoration on the old and mostly played-out Lompoc Oil Field
Lompoc Oil Field
The Lompoc Oil Field is a large oil field in the Purisima Hills north of Lompoc, California, in Santa Barbara County. Discovered in 1903, two years after the discovery of the Orcutt Oil Field in the Solomon Hills, it is one of the oldest oil fields in northern Santa Barbara County, and one of the...
, which consists of approximately 3700 acres (15 km²) of ecologically-sensitive habitat adjacent to the Burton Mesa Ecological Preserve. As part of the deal, Plains would drill into Tranquillon Ridge only from their existing Platform Irene, and would retire the platform entirely in 2022. The project would give the state of California $2 billion in tax revenues during that time, and Santa Barbara County about $350 million. The County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the project and sent it on to the State Lands Commission, which rejected it by a 2 to 1 vote on January 29, 2009, citing the unenforcability of the sunset clause.
In May 2009, however, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revived the project by including it in a revised budget proposal. While this proposal did not pass, Plains has not given up, announcing that they would continue to try to persuade voters and legislators of the merits of the exchange.