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Domestic exploration and production (E&P) companies have bolstered their capex budgets for 2014 by 10% since January, according to an update from Cowen and Co. equity research. Cowen found that 2014 E&P budgets are up by a total of $1.4 billion since January, when it published “The Original E&P Spending Survey.” Originally, domestic E&P spending—230 companies out of 466 worldwide—was predicted to rise by 5% this year. The first survey pegged budgets worldwide at $687 billion after a 4% overall rise.
The percentage increase from the report published May 22 was based on the reexamination of “53 of the larger spenders of E&P dollars in the U.S.” and also on strong oil and natural gas prices, as well as strong cash flows, the company said.
According to the update, some of the largest operators are planning “meaningful changes” to their E&P spending, Cowen said. Among those reporting increases are Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) and Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO).
“The change in forecast is most significant in the Permian Basin, where we see a trend toward larger and more dense completions. We believe that the increases have implications for 2015 and we are raising our estimate for 2015 to a 10% increase in U.S. E&P spending from a 7% gain previously,” the Cowen analysts led by James Crandell said.
In addition to its forecast for domestic E&P spending, the company forecast Canadian E&P spending. The estimate there grew to 6%, up from 1% in the Jan. 7 survey. Also, 8% growth was forecast for 2015, up from 5%. A total of 107 Canadian companies were included in the Jan. 7 survey. The forecast for international E&P spending apart from Canada remained unchanged—“up by 4% in 2014 and ahead by 5% in 2015.” In the Jan. 7 report, 182 companies were included in the international category.
“We are modestly increasing our 2014 to 2015 EPS estimates for all companies with North American land exposure and making small upward adjustments in our price targets. Our top picks of companies with meaningful North American exposure are Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT) and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) among the larger-cap stocks and U.S. Silica (NYSE: SLCA) and Hi-Crush Partners (NYSE: HCLP) among smaller-caps,” the analysts said.
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