Williams Cos. steadily reduced its Piceance Basin natural-gas production over the past 12 months by 11 percent to 632 million cubic feet a day in the first quarter of 2010.
Net prices for U.S. production rose to $5.01 per thousand cubic feet in the first quarter of this year, compared with $4.21 in the first quarter of 2009, the Tulsa, Okla.-based company reported Wednesday.
Exploration and production adjusted earnings rose 41 percent to $162 million in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier, the company said.
Company officials said there would be a 7 to 10 percent expansion in production overall in 2010.
After running seven rigs in the Piceance last year, the company now has 10 rigs and plans to complete 70 wells that were closed in last year, Ralph Hill, senior vice president for exploration and production, said on an analysts call Wednesday. Williams reported a $193 million loss for the first quarter because of charges in the restructuring of pipeline and midstream operations into a new entity, Williams Partners LP. Mark Jaffe, The Denver Post
