The third-quarter earnings season for oil and gas companies has been tough. Upside surprises have been few, and “misses” have been punished—often harshly. If there is a silver lining here and there, you have to stretch to see it.

One of the earlier to release numbers, Newfield Exploration Co., based in Houston, reported some impressive results from several developing plays: a Hogshooter well with a 30-day initial production (IP) rate of 4,200 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day; its first two horizontal Wasatch wells in the Uinta Basin, with ...