Brigham Exploration Company announced the completion of a well on its Bakken Shale acreage. Brigham Exploration Company has a 31% working interest in the well.

The Lee 16-21 #1H had an initial production rate during its first 24 hours of production of approximately 1,544 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), composed of 1,341 barrels of oil and 1.22 million cubic feet of natural gas.

“We’re very pleased with the early production performance of our Lee well. It’s our fifth consecutive long lateral, multi-stage completion in our approximate 100,000 net acres in Rough Rider, with early peak production rates averaging approximately 1,752 barrels of oil equivalent per day,” said Bud Brigham, the CEO of Brigham Exploration Company.

Brigham Exploration Company said the well was completed using a multi stage hydraulic fracturing operation. Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting water and other fluids into the well to stimulate and increase production.

The well is located on the company’s

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Devon Energy Corporation (DVN) has announced plans to divest all of its Gulf of Mexico and international assets for net proceeds of about $4.5-$7.5 billion, repositioning itself as a high-growth North American onshore company. The company believes that this repositioning will result in value optimization for its shareholders.  It believes that the value of these assets is not adequately reflected in the stock price. Furthermore, the divestitures would position the company to deliver high organic growth on a sustainable basis, funded entirely by internally generated funds. With the asset sales, we expect Devon to emerge with a stronger balance sheet and flaunt one of the lowest cost structures in its peer group.  Devon expects to begin the asset sale process by first half of 2010 and to complete them by the end of the year. The company plans to use the proceeds to develop its U.S. ...

Devon Energy Corp. revealed details of its strategy to monetize all outstanding Gulf of Mexico and international assets today, Monday, Nov. 16. Following this divestiture, DVN – an Oklahoma based energy company engaged in oil and gas exploration, will channel the capital generated into its U.S. and Canada onshore infrastructure.

DVN will elaborate further on its bold new strategy to effectively trim its cost structure and sculpt its balance sheet in a conference call webcast on the DVN corporate site at 9 a.m. CST (10 EST). On the agenda for this conference call will be the 2010 outlook and capital budget, a revised analysis of DVN’s resource potential, and the repositioning of the company following its divestiture of assets.

The assets in question comprise roughly 7% of the company-wide proved reserves for year-end 2009, which is 2.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Boe). DVN’s portfolio of oil and natural gas

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TOTAL SA (TOT) reported third-quarter earnings of €0.84 per share ($1.20 per share), above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 and second-quarter profit of €0.77. However, earnings declined from €1.81 reported a year ago. Earnings improved sequentially based on higher production, better realizations and lower costs.   Total revenues declined 31% from the year-ago quarter but improved 7% sequentially to €33.6 billion. The decline was caused mainly by lower realized oil and gas prices in the Upstream segment, reduced throughput volumes in the Downstream segment and a revenue decline at the chemicals segment.   Total hydrocarbon production averaged 2,243 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (MBOE) per day, up 0.5% from last year and 2.8% from the previous quarter. The increase was mainly due to production improvements and start-ups of new fields; offset by OPEC reductions and lower gas demand, disruptions in Nigeria, and changes in portfolio essentially in ...

Canada-based Suncor Energy (SU) reported weaker-than-expected third quarter results, hampered by lower commodity prices and higher operating expenses in its oil sands business, partly offset by increased production resulting from the Petro-Canada acquisition. Earnings per share, excluding certain items, came in at 23 Canadian cents (22 cents), below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 31 cents. In the year-ago period, Suncor earned 87 Canadian cents (83 cents). Revenues were down marginally (by 0.8%) to C$8.4 billion.     Operating Statistics   The company reported operating earnings of C$288 million, down 64.4% year over year, while cash flow from operations dropped 49.9% from the prior-year period to C$574 million.   Production   Upstream production during August and September 2009 averaged 630,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d). Of this, 289,400 BOE/d came from the Petro-Canada acquisition. During the third quarter, volumes from Suncor’s legacy oil sands and natural ...

Nexen Inc. (NXY) reported third-quarter recurring earnings of 21 cents (23 Canadian cents) per share, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents and lasts year’s earnings of $1.62 (C$1.68).

Production during the quarter, before royalties, averaged 214 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), or 184 MBOE/d net of royalties, comprising 83% crude oil and 15% natural gas. Production before royalties was down 14% year over year, mainly due to turnarounds and maintenance activities at a number of fields. On a net-of-royalty basis, production was down slightly by 12% year over year to 184 MBOE/d.

While the quarter’s productions were hampered by the scheduled turnarounds on a number of the company’s fields, current production (275 MBOE/d) is increasing with the ramp-up of production at Ettrick, Longhorn and Long Lake. Management hinted that the fourth quarter production will be higher than the reported quarter level.

Nexen’s average oil price realization during

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Canadian energy explorer Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) reported marginally better-than-expected third quarter results, helped by in-line production volumes. Earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding one-time items came in at 15 Canadian cents (14 cents), a penny above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, on a year-over-year basis, Talisman’s adjusted earnings per share slumped approximately 77%, while revenues declined 42.3% to C$1.5 billion, hurt by lower prices of oil and natural gas.   Volume Analysis   Production during the quarter was down approximately 9.5% from the year-ago level to 401 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), reflecting asset sales in Western Canada and maintenance downtime.   Oil & liquids production during the quarter was down 16.9% to 192.3 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), or 48% of total volumes. Volumes in North America, the U.K., Scandinavia , and other international regions were down 23.4%, 31.2%, 4.4%, and 30.5% ...

Statoil ASA (STO) reported its third quarter results of 38 cents per share, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents and in line with the year-earlier quarter earnings. Revenue for the quarter was NOK 123.1 billion ($20.1 billion), down 29% year over year.  Though the company’s results were hurt by lower commodity prices, Statoil continues to maintain a high activity level both in Norway and internationally. Equity and entitlement productions were up 8% and 10% year over year, respectively, with the start-up of operations on several new oil and gas fields such as Tyrihans in the Norwegian Sea, Tune Sor in the North Sea and Thunder Hawk in the Gulf of Mexico.  Total oil and gas entitlement production during the quarter averaged 1.71 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMBOE/d), 62% of which was oil and 38% natural gas, compared to 1.55 MMBOE/d ...

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) posted earnings from continuing operations of 98 cents per share in the third quarter, almost in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 97 cents. However, results were significantly below earnings of $3.04 reported last year, largely driven by lower commodity prices in the Exploration & Production (E&P) segment accompanied by lower earnings from the Refining & Marketing (R&M) operations.  Earnings from Murphy’s E&P business declined 65% from a year ago, primarily based on lower oil and gas prices, higher production costs and depreciation. Exploration expenses improved 55% to $37.9 million in the quarter versus $83.4 million last year, primarily attributable to lower dry hole costs in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Malaysia, and lower undeveloped lease amortization expense for the Tupper properties. R&M earnings also fell by 57% from last year due to weaker U.S. retail marketing margins and U.K. refining ...

Hess Corp. (HES) reported third-quarter earnings of 74 cents per diluted share, easily beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 54 cents. However, the result was much lower than the year-ago earnings of $2.37. Before adjusting for one-time items, the company posted earnings per share of $1.05.  The Exploration and Production (E&P) segment posted a $397 million profit in the quarter, compared to $699 million in the year-earlier quarter. Results were negatively impacted by significant declines in commodity prices and other incremental costs.  Quarterly crude oil and natural gas production, on an oil equivalent barrel basis, was 420,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d) - 74% liquids and 26% natural gas - up more than 16% year-over-year and more than 3% sequentially.  Worldwide crude oil realization per barrel during the quarter was $56.07 (including the impact of hedging), up 14% sequentially, but down approximately 40% ...