[Editor's note: A version of this story appears in the January 2019 edition of Oil and Gas Investor. Subscribe to the magazine here.]

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: MGY) didn’t exist as an E&P a year ago. As a special purpose acquisition company, TPG Pace Holdings Corp., at the time, Magnolia came to be this past summer via the acquisition of Eagle Ford Shale assets carved out of privately held EnerVest Ltd.

But CEO Steve Chazen knows something about achieving scale when it comes to investor buy-ins. He previously led Top 5 E&P Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY), taking it through a portfolio rationalization that would make an asset adviser’s head spin, positioning that company with high-return, sustainable assets to weather future downturns.

“Oil and gas isn’t all that popular in the investment community,” he told Oil and Gas Investor after closing the deal with EnerVest, “so I needed to find investors that invested in normal companies—cable or technology or industrial companies—where there are earnings from free cash flow and reasonable growth. I had to design a company that worked that way.

“We’ll come out of the box with earnings per share—that’s not immaterial. We have good runway to make decent returns for investors. If you make a story of reasonable growth, earnings per share, free cash flow, you can get investors to buy your stock.”

Not a year old yet, Chazen’s Magnolia has the assets and Wall Street confidence to crack the Top 50 public indies, leapfrogging dozens of other public producers in its debut.

It goes to show how quickly names can come and go on a list of top-valued E&Ps. The ebb and flow of market tides significantly affect valuations on any given day. And, with an equity-market downdraft across sectors this fall, oil and gas producers weren’t spared. Add to that a dramatic pullback in oil prices.

But a rising—or receding—tide lifts and drops all. Thus, Oil and Gas Investor valued all public E&Ps by market capitalization on Nov. 8, 2018. To be included, these producers must have production in the U.S., and E&P must be its primary endeavor. Integrated operators were excluded, as were producers for whom E&P is a secondary business. All production listed below is U.S. volumes only, unless otherwise noted.

Through 2018, E&Ps struggled with the choices of continuing with a growth-oriented trajectory per a traditional business model or shifting to a more value-driven model with slower growth and higher returns. The decision is not always obvious and is a gamble either way.

The results of those strategies as determined by the investment community are represented below and ongoing. Oil and Gas Investor presents this year’s Top 50 Public E&Ps.

1. ConocoPhillips

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $76.822 billion

Last year’s rank: 1

Production: 579,000 boe/d

Key plays: Lower 48, Alaska, GoM

ConocoPhillips Co. (NYSE: COP) describes itself as the world’s largest independent E&P based on production and proved reserves—and it’s the largest by market cap, as well. The formerly integrated oil company still has an international E&P portfolio that would make any IOC do a double take, and for good reason: Its breadth encompasses European, North African and Asian conventional, Australian LNG, Canadian oil sands and, not the least, U.S and Canadian unconventionals. Its “Big 3” unconventional plays—the Eagle Ford, Delaware and Bakken—grew in output 43% year-over-year and are targeted to deliver 22% annualized growth through 2020. Those will add an additional $2 billion in net cash flow. Its North Slope, Alaska, project is on the rise as well. Globally, ConocoPhillips’ production tops 1.2 million barrels per day (MMboe/d). Going forward, it projects adding 90 MMboe/d over the next six years from international assets alone. After exposing itself to the raw edge of the downturn when separating from its midstream and downstream segments in 2012, the company carved out $16 billion in divestments through 2017, using much of that to pay down debt. Beyond the asset base, ConocoPhillips has won investor trust with a shareholder-friendly program that keeps on giving; notably, some $15 billion in planned buybacks representing 20% of shares. “Our portfolio and efficiency efforts have boosted the underlying strength of our company and driven what we believe is a peer-leading sustaining price of less than $40 WTI,” said Ryan Lance, CEO, in an earnings call. “We know it’s a formula that works and we’re sticking to it.”

2. EOG Resources Inc.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $61.186 billion

Last year’s rank: 2

Production: 700,448 boe/d

Key plays: Eagle Ford, Delaware, Powder River, D-J Basin, Bakken, Anadarko Basin

Just like “Everyone Loves Raymond,” everyone—investors and operators alike—loves EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG). The perennial favorite is the E&P everyone wants to grow up to be. And iconoclastically opposite of many producers chasing investor sentiment to become single-basin-focused, EOG is digging dirt in a host of leading oily plays. Largely organically grown, EOG continues to add new plays to its “premier” portfolio—self-described as meeting a 30% rate of return hurdle as measured against a price deck of $40 oil and $2.50 natural gas, “no matter if commodity prices improve [in 2019],” per CEO Bill Thomas. Just this past year, it elevated both the Eastern Anadarko Woodford oil window and Powder River Basin to its class of assets worthy of receiving development capital. Production grew 25%. Thomas, in the company’s second-quarter call, said, “The EOG machine is firing on all cylinders. … Our disciplined investments across a diverse array of premium plays are generating record rates of return.” Those returns translate to free cash flow, and that excess cash is flowing back to investors with a 31% hike in its dividend in 2018.

3. Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $56.245 billion

Last year’s rank: 3

Production: 315,000 boe/d

Key plays: Permian, Middle East, Colombia

Give Oxy credit for durability: The company celebrates its 99-year anniversary this year. While its diverse history has had the company invested in varied industries, today it focuses on oil and gas, midstream and marketing, and chemicals. In the upstream, Middle East operations represent nearly half its production; yet within the U.S., the company is solely enamored with the Permian Basin. Oxy controls some 2.5 million acres there, split between its conventional EOR and unconventional-resource divisions, which account for 9% of all Permian oil produced, according to the company. But it’s the unconventional side receiving all the buzz lately. Oxy brags on having 26 of the top 50 wells in the Permian during the past year. Two, in particular, are barn-burners, even for 24-hour IPs: A Greater Sand Dunes well peaked at more than 8,900 boe/d; one in the Greater Barilla Draw area topped 6,500 boe/d. Despite investor pushback, the company saw a window of opportunity and plowed an additional $1 billion of 2018 capex into the program with an estimated 50% production jump for the year. For 2019, it’s targeting 35%. Oxy cleared an additional $5 billion in 2018 cash with the $2.5-billion sale of midstream assets along with another $2.5 billion gleaned from upsized oil prices—with all but the aforementioned $1 billion allocated to share buybacks. Company economics are designed to grow both production and the dividend at $50 oil.

4. Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Headquarters: The Woodlands, Texas

Market cap: $29.354 billion

Last year’s rank: 4

Production: 682,000 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware Basin, D-J Basin, Powder River Basin, GOM, Africa

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) casts a wide exploration footprint to diversify its value—from short-cycle U.S. onshore unconventional assets to high-margin conventional projects offshore Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico. Onshore the U.S., the operator is nearing completion of an infrastructure buildout in the Delaware Basin, where it’s producing 120,000 bbl/d and had seven rigs running this past fall, a 20% increase quarter-over-quarter. CEO Al Walker emphasized to investors that more than half of its oil volumes receive waterborne pricing—a nod to the Brent uplift and including one cargo shipment per month out of Houston—and expects 70% to sail away when the Cactus II Pipeline from West Texas to Corpus Christi is completed. Anadarko set the bar to be free-cash-flow positive above $50/bbl and is using the lagniappe to fund share buybacks to the tune of $5 billion, debt paydown of $2 billion and a measured ramp-up of its dividend by 30 cents per share. Also, it plans to determine final investment decision on its Mozambique LNG project by mid-2019.

5. Pioneer Natural Resources Co.

Headquarters: Irving, Texas

Market cap: $27.233 billion

Last year’s rank: 5

Production: 320,659 boe/d

Key plays: Midland Basin, Eagle Ford

Ten years ago, Oil and Gas Investor featured Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) in “Coming Home,” a story about operators paring their international portfolios to focus on the U.S. Today, one could say Pioneer’s home is the Permian Basin as the company guided that it would be a Permian pure-player before year-end 2018, expecting to announce a sale of its final non-Permian-holding—the Eagle Ford Shale. But what a mansion: The company has more than a full table to feast on with 785,000 acres—that’s 1,226 square miles—and 20,000 drilling locations in the heart of the Midland Basin. And, as other operators gnashed their teeth over depressed pricing these past few months, the Permian prince received Gulf Coast pricing, thus avoiding the pesky Mid-Cush differentials. CEO Tim Dove, in the latest earnings call, declared that Pioneer is now “essentially a Brent-priced company.” The company has 24 rigs running with growth plans exceeding 20%.

6. Concho Resources Inc.

Headquarters: Midland, Texas

Market cap: $27.151 billion

Last year’s rank: 6

Production: 287,000 boe/d

Key plays: Permian Basin

The original Permian pure-player, Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) wielded Thor’s hammer to make a statement with its $9.5-billion takeout of RSP Permian Inc. last July. The all-stock deal points to the value and trust in Concho’s value base. Following the combination and with RSP’s 55,000 boe/d, Midland’s home team touts itself as the largest oil and gas producer in the Permian, running 34 rigs across 640,000 acres in West Texas. “Those assets and that fit with our existing portfolio really create a lot of powerful economies,” Tim Leach, CEO, said. Concho brags on free cash flow generation in 12 out of the prior 13 quarters with a 1.2x debt-to-EBITDA. It plans 2019 capex in the neighborhood of $3.5 billion, based on $55 to $60 oil. “We clearly have two very important priorities,” Leach said on the third-quarter call. “One is to demonstrate that we can grow our oil production and deliver free cash flow and a return of capital to our shareholders—and do all that in a very efficient way as we mechanically mine this asset that we have.”

7. Continental Resources Inc.

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Market cap: $18.870 billion

Last year’s rank: 8

Production: 296,900 boe/d

Key plays: Bakken, Scoop/Stack

With oil prices soaring and with a completely unhedged oil portfolio, Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR), accelerated growth in his two big plays in contrast to all the other big guys stoically exhibiting capital discipline. Will the move pay off? The company was to bring on 70 new Bakken wells in the fourth quarter—40% of the annual basin total—and another 18 in Oklahoma, potentially boosting year-over-year production by up to 24%. “While we remain a highly disciplined company with a primary focus on capital-efficient growth and corporate returns, it was an appropriate time to increase our production growth rate,” Hamm said. Even with the capex bump, free cash flow was projected to approach $1 billion through 2018. Due to its unhedged-on-oil nature, and if oil prices hold strong, the company’s $6 billion of debt and 1.5x leverage ratio stand to plummet.

8. Hess Corp.

Headquarters: New York City

Market cap: $17.726 billion

Last year’s rank: 10

Production: 203,000 boe/d

Key plays: Bakken, GoM, Guyana, Malaysia, offshore Canada

Can you say Guyana? Hess does—a lot. Despite having a global portfolio, the multinational explorer is high on its prospect offshore South America. And why not? In the third quarter, Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) revealed a ninth discovery on its Stabroek Block in a year. Together, these discoveries are estimated to contain some 4 Bboe of gross recoverable resources, with up to five FPSOs producing 750,000 bbl/d by 2025. Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is the operator, with Hess holding 30%. A second drillship is being deployed to further test prospects. Guyana and its other favorite play—the Bakken—consumed 75% of its $2.1-billion operational budget for 2018, and that’s likely to continue, per John Hess, CEO. In third-quarter comments, he indicated the 2019 spend would blossom to $3 billion. “All that incremental spend between 2018 and 2019 will be targeted to the highest-return investments in the E&P business, and that’s our Bakken and Guyana assets.” The portfolio should be “cash generative” post-2020, he added.

9. Devon Energy Corp.

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Market cap: $16.795 billion

Last year’s rank: 7

Production: 418,000 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware, Stack, Powder River, Canadian oil sands

Alas, density matters. Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is lowering expectations around its Stack oil play, which it upsized in late 2015 with a nearly $2 billion acquisition of Felix Energy LLC, the premium value predicated around an expected eight to 12 wells per unit. Subsequent testing proved otherwise: Four to eight are more realistic. In 2019, Devon intends to stack its chips on its Delaware Basin asset with nearly $1 billion in capex, girded by the knowledge that “we have secured the supply chain, infrastructure and takeaway capacity to execute on our development plans,” said Dave Hager, CEO. That’s not to mention some 4,000 boe/d Wolfcamp wells. A doubling of rigs in the rising Powder will fill the Stack EUR gap. Still, Devon hopes to woo investors with other perks: By year-end, it was approaching its $5 billion divestiture goal, including shedding its half-interest in EnLink Midstream LLC for $3.1 billion. Much of that surplus was reinvested into an aggressive $4 billion share buyback program, the industry’s largest when measured by market cap; $2.7 billion had been deployed through the third quarter. An additional $4 billion of excess cash flow was driven into debt reduction.

10. Marathon Oil Corp.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $15.238 billion

Last year’s rank: 12

Production: 304,000 boe/d

Key plays: Eagle Ford, Bakken, Scoop/Stack, Delaware, Equatorial Guinea

When Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) divested its Canadian oil sands assets for $2.5 billion in 2017 and simultaneously added nearly $2 billion in Delaware Basin acquisitions, it set the tone for 2018’s program: funnel 90% of its $2.3-billion global operational capex into U.S. resource plays. And it intended to do that with production growth between 10% and 14%, targeting 30% returns at $50 WTI. It did that and more, raising production targets quarterly, without raising capex. And, while its Eagle Ford and Bakken positions make up the lion’s share of the budget—and production—the less-mature Scoop/Stack and Delaware Basin assets garner the bulk of investor infatuation. But the ongoing Eagle Ford core extension is achieving “outstanding results,” said CEO Lee Tillman in the most recent earnings call, and the Bakken deserves awe. “We’ve gotten a little bit spoiled and jaded in the Bakken,” he said, where a recent well realized 4,800 boe/d IP 30. “These wells are incredible, world-class wells and certainly some of the best that have ever been completed in the North American unconventional space…. And all of a sudden, that’s not even headline-grabbing anymore, which is shocking to me.” Watch for Marathon spudding its first exploration well in the emerging Louisiana Austin Chalk play during the third quarter.

11. Apache Corp.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $14.073 billion

Last year’s rank: 9

Production: 272,000 boe/d

Key plays: Permian, Egypt, North Sea

While its West Texas Alpine High discovery dominated headlines in 2017, Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is also diligently at work running 16 rigs throughout its 1.6-million-acre Permian position spanning the Midland and Delaware basins and even the Central Basin Platform. But Apache is still high on Alpine High, touting it as a world-class discovery with 5,000 locations to tap 3 Bbbl and 75 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of resource in place. In 2018, midstream was foremost on Apache’s mind: It commissioned the 2 Bcf/d Permian Highway Pipeline Project with Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI), EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC and Blackstone Energy Partners LP; agreed to be an anchor tenant on the EPIC crude pipeline; and dropped its Alpine High midstream assets into the publicly traded Altus Midstream LP with a $3.5 billion valuation. For 2019, Apache plans a $3 billion capital program (a slight downtrend from 2018) to maintain current levels of activity, projecting 15% production growth in the U.S. and 10% overall. Elsewhere, Apache made its fourth discovery on the U.K. North Sea Garten Block with 700 feet of pay and 10 MMbbl of expected recoverable resource.

12. Noble Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $12.677 billion

Last year’s rank: 11

Production: 249,000 boe/d

Key plays: D-J Basin, Delaware, Eagle Ford, Israel

Noble Energy Inc.’s (NYSE: NBL) 2017 acquisition of Clayton Williams Energy Inc. nearly tripled its acreage in the southern Delaware, and, in 2018, the company cashed in on that bet, doubling its production from the region year-over-year. Yet it tempered completions and new drilling in the latter part of 2018 and in plans for at least the early part of 2019, acquiescing to basis differentials and moderating new production to basin-pipeline additions. Capex is being redeployed mostly to the D-J. With the Colorado set-back scare in the past for now, Noble is pushing forward with its Mustang comprehensive drilling plan there: a 100-square-mile, state-approved plan built around infrastructure and manufacturing efficiencies. Some 800 locations are included. Elsewhere, Israel is trending up, with Noble’s big offshore Leviathan project due to produce first sales by year-end 2019 as is West Africa, with its 3 Tcf potential Alba Field anticipated to be sanctioned in early 2019. Trending down: Eagle Ford. Gone: Gulf of Mexico, Appalachia. Exploration remains a Noble priority. On the horizon: Newfoundland, Gabon, the Eastern Mediterranean.

13. Diamondback Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Midland, Texas

Market cap: $11.234 billion

Last year’s rank: 17

Production: 123,000 boe/d

Key plays: Midland Basin

With the purchase of both Energen Corp. and Ajax Resources LLC for a combined $10 billion, Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) shouted to the industry and to Wall Street that it is positioning itself to be an operator of scale in the Permian. Both deals were set to have closed by year-end, and Diamondback’s market cap and production do not reflect pro forma numbers, poising the company for a move up in the 2020 ranking. It also grabbed an additional 3,600 acres with 3,500 boe/d from ExL Petroleum LP and EnergyQuest LLC in October in the northern Midland Basin, shoring up its position. The combined company will feature 394,000 net acres across the Midland and Delaware basins with 7,200 locations and 14 rigs in motion pre-Energen, which also had 10 running. “Diamondback will continue to look for assets, complementary to our existing asset base, that compete for capital right away,” said Travis Stice, CEO, in the third-quarter call. The producer grew production 45% year-over-year and within cash flow. Additionally and above its $1.5 billion capex, it joined with The Carlyle Group LP to drill outlier acreage in Pecos County, Texas. And not to forget: Diamondback started its big buying spree in 2017 with the $2.5 billion Brigham Resources LLC deal.

14. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.

Headquartered: Houston

Market cap: $11.043 billion

Last year’s rank: 13

Production: 2,029 MMcfe/d

Key plays: Marcellus

A premier Appalachian player, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: COG) has patiently waited for pipes—and for the better part of five years. Amazingly though, and despite sometimes wide basis differentials and challenged natural gas pricing, the company maintained positive free cash flow for nine of 10 consecutive quarters. The feat exhibits Cabot’s drive to be the lowest-cost producer in the northeastern Pennsylvania Marcellus. And Cabot’s pipe dreams came true in October, with the oft-delayed Atlantic Sunrise finally in service, absorbing 850 MMcf/d of Cabot’s 2 Bcf/d production. With pipeline constraints in the rearview mirror, the producer foresees production growth of between 20% and 25% through 2019, up from 8% in 2018. In the third-quarter call, though, Dan Dinges, CEO, assured that “our focus, first and foremost, is on maximizing returns and free cash flow with production growth simply being a result of disciplined capital allocation to high-quality assets.” Cabot commits 50% of free-cash-flow generation to dividends and buybacks.

15. EQT Corp.

Headquartered: Pittsburgh

Market cap: $9.134 billion

Last year’s rank: 16

Production: 4,068 MMcfe/d

Key plays: Marcellus, Utica

In 2017, the Marcellus-Utica power player scooped up Rice Energy Inc. in an $8.2 billion blockbuster that slingshot EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) to the front of the pack of gas producers in the U.S. Despite some turbulence in the CEO seat in 2018 and a shuffling of upper management, the producer finds itself generating some 4 Bcfe/d. However, a late-year bump up in capex and bump down in production guidance dinged the stock, as investors took a wait-and-see approach to the transition. One challenge: The Rice acquisition gave opportunity to extend average lateral lengths from 8,000 feet to 14,000, with many capable of 18,000 or more. “In hindsight, we probably tried to drill too many of those ultra-long laterals in 2018,” said new CEO Robert McNally in the 3Q call, adding to learning curve costs. 2019 will feature “a more measured pace.” In late November, EQT spun out its midstream assets into Equitrans Midstream Corp., setting itself up as a streamlined E&P going forward.

16. Cimarex Energy Co.

Headquartered: Denver

Market cap: $8.613 billion

Last year’s rank: 15

Production: 218,600 boe/d

Key plays: Permian, Midcontinent

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) hopped on the merger bandwagon in late 2018, announcing the $1.2 billion acquisition of Resolute Energy Corp. (NYSE: REN), bolstering its Delaware Basin position by a third. Pro forma, production will be 253,000 boe/d. CEO Tom Jorden pounds the table on the mantra “returns over production-ramp,” with the company moving to a large-scale, multiyear development plan based on flat pricing of $55 oil for the next three years. But the operator is also focused on squeezing every ounce of value out of its Permian and Midcon assets as well with “a deeper understanding of optimum development” that does not overdrill or underdrill, he said. One challenge to full-out development: “We’re still getting surprised to the upside with some of these new landing zones, a number of which we haven’t discussed and aren’t ready to discuss,” Jorden said.

17. Encana Corp.

Headquarters: Calgary, Alberta

Market cap: $8.419 billion

Last year’s rank: 14

Production: 137,000 boe/d

Key plays: Midland Basin, Eagle Ford

Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) surprised the market once again in November when it revealed a near-$8 billion planned combination with Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX), establishing itself in Oklahoma’s Scoop/Stack and stocking up on an additional 3 Bboe of liquids reserves. In 2014, Encana bought Athlon Energy Inc. for $7 billion to get a foothold in the Permian. The Canadian company also holds Eagle Ford, Williston and Uinta assets in the U.S.; in Canada, in the Montney and Duvernay. Pro forma total production will be 577,000 boe/d, which the company touts as second best in North American unconventional resources. The deal is expected to close in this quarter. Encana anticipates transferring its Midland Basin cube-development strategy to the Scoop/Stack. “Having multiple core positions gives us a tremendous advantage when it comes to managing risks related to market access and infrastructure,” said CEO Doug Suttles in the third-quarter call.

18. Parsley Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Austin, Texas

Market cap: $7.752 billion

Last year’s rank: 18

Production: 116,200 boe/d

Key plays: Permian

Following a period of acquisitiveness and an aggressive development pace during the down-cycle to build scale, Parsley Energy Inc. (NYSE: PE) spent 2018 concentrating on “operational continuity” in search of better efficiencies. Its goal: achieve free-cash-flow status by year-end 2019. Following a year of 56% production gains from its 200,000-acre positions in the Midland and Delaware basins, Parsley leveled drilling activity and set about creating margins. “We’ve now established a line of sight to significant and sustainable free cash flow,” incoming CEO Matt Gallagher said to investors. “The idea is to get there and stay there at a meaningful scale.” Founder and previous CEO Bryan Sheffield stays on as chairman in 2019.

19. Energen Corp.

Headquarters: Birmingham, Ala.

Market cap: $7,123 billion

Last year’s rank: 23

Production: 103,100 boe/d

Key plays: Permian

Energen is the glowing bride to Diamondback’s groom in one of the largest deals of the year. Valued at $9.2 billion to be paid in stock, Diamondback stands to gain 179,000 net acres and 90,000 boe/d in the Midland and Delaware basins. The deal, which was to have closed by year-end, adds some 3,900 horizontal locations, a 120% boost to Diamondback’s inventory. Editor's note: the Diamondback-Energen merger closed on Nov. 29, 2018.

20. WPX Energy Inc.

Headquartered: Tulsa, Okla.

Market cap: $6.531 billion

Last year’s rank: 26

Production: 123,800 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware, Bakken

WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE: WPX) is on an upward trajectory. With its portfolio transformation largely complete, accented by the sale of its San Juan Basin assets in 2018, the company is primarily an oil-producer today. Anchored in the burgeoning Delaware Basin since its 2015 entry, WPX has sought to control its destiny for its ramping production vs. infrastructure constraints via its own midstream buildouts and partnerships. It receives 98% of WTI pricing. A delay in a self-owned processing-plant completion in the third quarter, however, exacerbated gas and NGL constraints that were alleviated before year-end. In 2019, WPX plans to generate free cash flow at strip while growing oil volumes 25% to 30% with a flat rig count.

21. Murphy Oil Corp.

Headquarters: El Dorado, Ark.

Market cap: $5.363 billion

Last year’s rank: 25

Production: 169,000 boe/d

Key plays: Gulf of Mexico, Eagle Ford, Duvernay/Montney, offshore Canada, Malaysia, Brunei

This diverse E&P-oriented operator is committed to delivering free cash flow and continuing to pay its longstanding dividend while growing oil production. It has successfully delineated the Samurai find in the Green Canyon of the Gulf of Mexico, raising its discovered resource there to 90 MMboe, so plans for 2019 are underway. In October, Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) expanded its exploration in the Gulf by inking an accretive, oil-weighted JV with Brazil’s Petrobras, paying $900 million to Petrobras. CEO Roger Jenkins touted the deal, which was well received by the market, as a transaction “directly tied to our long-term strategy.” Earlier in the year, the company boasted of about $2 billion of liquidity with no borrowings on its credit facility. By the third quarter, it had beat on operated cash flow and reported free cash flow of $141 million year to date—it returned 12% of that to shareholders through its longstanding dividend.

22. Antero Resources Corp.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $4.979 billion

Last year’s rank: 21

Production: 2,718 MMcfe/d

Key plays: Marcellus

The mantra of Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) in 2018 was to “keep it simple.” The company announced its two affiliated midstream entities will merge and convert to a C-corp, owned 31% by the parent, a move chairman, president and CEO Paul Rady said on a conference call is “a win-win-win across the Antero family.” A Marcellus leader, Antero recently surpassed 3 Bcfe/d of production and its growing liquids output now makes up 43% of the total.

23. Centennial Resource Development Inc.

Headquartered: Denver

Market cap: $4.891 billion

Last year’s rank: 24

Production: 62,930 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware Basin

If reputation is everything, that goes a long way with this relatively new company, whose chairman and CEO Mark Papa made hay at his former post, EOG Resources. He’s chasing industry-leading performance once again, which is on its way to 65,000 bbl/d by 2020 from the northern Delaware Basin, while reporting top-notch wells there. Centennial Resource Development Inc.’s (NASDAQ: CDEV) longest lateral yet went 12,000 feet in Upper Wolfcamp. Investors were encouraged recently with its first test of the First Bone Spring in New Mexico, which management said on a conference call a third to a half of its acreage is feasible for developing this new zone. In addition, it plans to test two additional zones in 2019—the Second Bone Spring and a 2-mile Third Bone Spring carbonate. Papa assured investors he’s locked in takeaway for 100% of the gas and 70% of the gross oil output, so no flaring will be needed. He said M&A is too pricey, so he prefers to grow production organically by drilling—and maybe a few bolt-ons.

24. Range Resources Corp.

Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas

Market cap: $4,335 billion

Last year’s rank: 27

Production: 2,267 MMcfe/d

Key plays: Marcellus, Louisiana Terryville

Having discovered the mighty Marcellus, Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) has now drilled more than 1,000 such wells, and it just completed the longest lateral in the play yet at 18,556 feet, located in southwestern Pennsylvania. CEO Jeff Ventura vows to keep whittling away at the company’s debt while maximizing output from its peer-leading Marcellus inventory. “We have great confidence in our long-range plan,” he told investors, adding that he believes the company has the best gas assets in North America based on quantity, quality and liquids optionality. The company already ranks as a Top 10 gas producer at 2.3 Bcfe/d and, what’s more, it’s been riding the wave of increased NGL prices, being among the top three NGL producers in the U.S. and the first to export ethane to Europe. Liquids production contributes 47% of total product revenues. It stubbed its toe with the pricey Louisiana purchase, but recently sold a 1% override in Washington County, Pa., for $300 million as part of its debt-reduction effort.

25. Newfield Exploration Co.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: 4,324 billion

Last year’s rank: 20

Production: 202,000 boe/d

Key plays: Scoop/Stack

This Scoop/Stack pioneer will soon be scooped up by Encana for $5.5 billion in stock plus assumption of $2.2 billion of net debt for total deal value of almost $7.7 billion. Meanwhile, it beat on production in the third quarter, with better-than-expected well results in the Anadarko Basin. Its production there averaged 143 MBoe/d, up 11% vs. the second quarter. Encana has to like what’s ahead for the assets it’s buying: Newfield recently issued targets of between 14% and 18% total production compound annual growth rate from 2018 through 2020.

26. Southwestern Energy Co.

Headquarters: Spring, Texas

Market cap: $3,291 billion

Last year’s rank: 30

Production: 2,800 MMcfe/d

Key plays: Marcellus

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) made a huge pivot in 2018 by selling its legacy Fayetteville Shale, which it discovered early in the shale revolution, for $1.86 billion. With renewed focus in Pennsylvania, it aims to ramp up liquids output and will look harder at Upper Devonian, where its first test was so good that the company thinks it’s comparable to the economics of the rich-gas Marcellus. CEO Bill Way told investors, “We’re on a mission to achieve both a sustainable, 2x leverage ratio and free cash flow neutrality by the end of 2020.” Strong NGL prices have led it (and all its Appalachian peers) to pursue more liquids output; in fact, liquids are a third of its local production. A strong third-quarter beat on cash flow (up 40% year/year) was due to increased NGL performance and cost savings from its expanded water projects in the basin. It will deliver water by pipe to all wells in 2019, savings $500,000 per. A share repurchase program was initiated in September; cash flow positive will be reached in 2021.

27. Whiting Petroleum Corp.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $3.283 billion

Last year’s rank: 39

Production: 128,680 boe/d

Key plays: Bakken, Niobrara

Now on Gen 4 designs in the Bakken’s Sanish area, Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) looks rock solid. Its enhanced completions there have been outperforming prior wells by a stunning 80%. This is one of the few mid-cap E&Ps to generate free cash flow, all while adding inventory in Mackenzie County, N.D., to the tune of 100 more locations on newly acquired acreage, answering investors’ call for more line-of-sight growth. Further, CEO Brad Holley said the new completions can unlock potential in what he calls “halo plays” on the Bakken’s edges, moving them from Tier 2 into the Tier 1 column. The company may have dodged a bullet on the Colorado referendum in November. But, on the other hand, it pulled its Red Tail asset from the market, failing to get the price it wanted.

28. Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Market cap: $3,262 billion

Last year’s rank: 28

Production: 537,000 boe/d

Key plays: Eagle Ford, Anadarko Basin, Powder River Basin, Marcellus

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) wowed the market in October by unveiling its proposed acquisition of WildHorse Resource Development Corp. (NYSE: WRD) for $4 billion primarily in stock to increase its Eagle Ford position. The announcement was the morning after Chesapeake closed on the $2 billion cash sale of its Utica-Ohio assets to Encino Acquisition Partners LLC. WildHorse’s northeastern Eagle Ford is a cash flow machine. It’s another milestone in Chesapeake’s grand transition from being one of the country’s biggest gas producers for many years to being oilier and continuing to bulk up higher-margin assets. Its fast-developing Turner Formation in the Powder River Basin is another step in this process, where it’s targeting 80% of future drilling. The biggest hurdle to more investor love is its $9 billion-plus of debt that CEO Doug Lawler continues to address through a series of refinancing deals and divestments.

29. CNX Resources Corp.

Headquarters: Canonsburg, Pa.

Market cap: $3.168 billion

Last year’s rank: 29

Production: 1,293 MMcfe/d

One of the largest and longest-legacy Appalachian Basin gas producers—and now set free from an affiliated coal operation—CNX Resources Corp. (NYSE: CNX) has turned its attention to greater well results, share repurchases, and lower debt. To that end, it sold its Ohio wet-gas assets that were in a JV with Hess to Ascent Resources-Utica LLC for $400 million cash. President and CEO Nick DeIuliis said this accretive deal “brings forward the value of assets that were simply outranked by other options in CNX’s opportunity set.” This past summer, CNX reported it was the first producer to commit to using a 100% electric frack fleet in the basin, partnering with Evolution Well Services LLC. Lessons from the company’s central Pennsylvania operation are being applied southwest, with development of Marcellus and Utica stacked payzones on the same pad.

30. Matador Resources Co.

Headquarters: Dallas

Market cap: $3,090 billion

Last year’s rank: 34

Production: 54,600 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford, Haynesville

A Delaware success story that keeps growing, Matador Resources Co. (NYSE: MTDR) stepped up big time and made headlines at the recent New Mexico BLM lease sale, paying up for core-of-the-core acreage. It looks like it was worth it: The company added 8,400 acres in the prolific Stateline area (southern Eddy and northern Loving counties). Now some 88% of company production is in New Mexico and it will add an eighth rig there in 2019. It’s producing from seven intervals and recently drilled its first operated 2-mile lateral. In the Antelope Breaks area, it drilled the best well in company history. A plus: Matador announced a gas-gathering and -processing agreement through its midstream unit, San Mateo Midstream LLC, with an E&P on its Eddy County acreage. With this deal and saltwater-gathering and -disposal agreements that San Mateo has, Matador’s run-rate goes up and analysts expect 20% growth out of the midstream business in 2019.

31. Oasis Petroleum Inc.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $2.976 billion

Last year’s rank: 37

Production: 85,400 boe/d

Key plays: Bakken, Delaware

While a recent Permian entrant, Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) remains a solidly Williston company, with about 87% of its E&P capex devoted to the Bakken. And the company can’t buy a break: Its stock was crushed 34% between Oct. 1 and Nov. 9, yet the company has been a model of what investors say they want. For three consecutive years, Oasis has been a fiscal disciplinarian, with discretionary cash flow exceeding its capex. Oasis was on track to do it again in 2018. The company also continues to build out its Delaware Basin assets with the purchase in February of Forge Energy LLC assets for $946 million, or about $38,200 per acre.

32. PDC Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $2.973 billion

Last year’s rank: 31

Production: 110,000 boe/d

Key plays: Wattenberg, Delaware

PDC Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCE), like other Colorado producers on this list, could take a step back after the defeat of Proposition 112 in November. But, and this is key, the company wasn’t required to do so. PDC and other E&Ps spent millions to fight the initiative that called for well setbacks within a half-mile of occupied structures and “vulnerable areas.” In Weld County, Colo., alone 85% of non-federal lands would have been off limits to new oil and gas production. The company has 1,950 gross Wattenberg and Delaware locations and the Permian continues to exceed company expectations. Management also anticipated exiting 2018 with 125,000 boe/d. In its third-quarter call, CEO Bart Brookman noted pro forma liquidity of $1.23 billion and free cash flow, along with a sale of its Delaware midstream assets, giving flexibility heading into 2019. It also has a backlog of about 100 Wattenberg DUCs that “we’ll be looking at … depending on what’s happening with prices,” He added, “We’ll never take our eye off that free-cash-flow goal.”

33. Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $2.860 billion

Last year’s rank: NEW

Production: 49,600 boe/d

Key plays: Eagle Ford, Austin Chalk

Magnolia Oil & Gas is a youthful E&P headed by the no-nonsense Steve Chazen, the former Occidental Petroleum CEO. In September, at Hart Energy’s DUG Eagle Ford conference, Chazen counted his small G&A bill among his advantages, adding, “One of the problems I had with Oxy is I had too many employees.” Chazen’s company, then sitting at about $3.5 billion in market value, also foresaw a “$10 billion-market-cap business is not out of the question.” Magnolia continues to up production, averaging 55,200 boe/d in third-quarter 2018, up 1% from the second quarter. The company also added 114,000 net acres from Harvest Oil & Gas Corp. in a deal worth about $190 million. Chazen is still scouting for acquisitions but also sees a business that “will double on its own in five years.”

34. Jagged Peak Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $2.686 billion

Last year’s rank: 33

Production: 36,100 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware Basin

At the close of 2016, conventional wisdom held that Jagged Peak Energy Inc.’s (NYSE: JAG) 60,875 net acres and large inventory of wells would tempt a buyer for the Delaware Basin E&P. Whether a proposal was ever made, Jagged instead completed an underperforming IPO in early 2017 with production then averaging about 6,500 boe/d, of which 82% was oil. Largely under the radar, it has since increased its leasehold by about 30% to 78,900 net acres and blown the doors off production with a 5.5x increase in less than two years, while keeping oil at a comfortable 76% of production. The operator, as described by a Seaport Global Securities LLC report, has built an “execution machine” with third-quarter EBITDAX up 12% and a beat and raise on production.

35. Kosmos Energy Ltd.

Headquarters: Dallas

Market cap: $2.556 billion

Last year’s rank: 32

Production: 130,200 boe/d

Key plays: Gulf of Mexico

For landlubbers, Kosmos Energy Ltd.’s (NYSE: KOS) recent squall in the markets might be read as investors balking over a $1.23 billion deal to acquire Deep Gulf Energy Cos. In reality, from the deal’s announcement in August, the news was well received well past its September close, with shares up 18%. The real culprit appears to be the dry hole it drilled. In October, the company confirmed that its $13 million exploration well offshore Suriname discovered a pocket of subterranean water but no hydrocarbons. Kosmos isn’t giving up, of course. Andy Inglis, chairman and CEO, said it’s early days yet for exploring the Suriname-Guyana Basin. “Our current plan is to test the next prospect in 2020.”

36. SM Energy Co.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $2.387 billion

Last year’s rank: 40

Production: 130,200 boe/d

Key plays: Midland, Eagle Ford

In “Gladiator,” the protagonist, Maximus, shocks a bloodthirsty arena with his quick and efficient slaughter of enemies before turning to spectators and asking, “Are you not entertained?” SM Energy Co. (NYSE: SM) is setting up for some oil-letting of its own with the anticipated 2019 kickoff of its 25-well Merlin Maximus pad development project in the Midland Basin. Meanwhile, it was tidying house in 2018, selling assets in the Bakken, West Texas and the Powder River Basin for a combined $792 million, while reducing debt by $345 million. SM runs six rigs in the Midland on 82,500 net acres and has drilled more than 80 wells as of third-quarter 2018. It also runs a single rig on 164,500 Eagle Ford acres. 2019 looks to be more thumbs up than down from the market crowd.

37. Enerplus Corp.

Headquarters: Calgary, Alberta

Market cap: $2.387 billion

Last year’s rank: 42

Production: 82,500 boe/d

Key plays: Williston, Marcellus, D-J Basin, Canada

Canada, land of the Maple Leaf flag, gravy-covered fries and milk sold by the bag, does things differently. Enerplus Corp. (NYSE: ERF), perhaps doubly so. The company has an enviable balance sheet, starting with a remarkably low leverage rate of 0.4x. For 2018, it estimated a 17% return on capital employed, a 5% free cash flow yield and projected liquids production growth of 22%. While the company faces some headwinds in the Bakken, where differentials are creeping up, Enerplus has added fixed contracts to hold price differences steady in 2019. In the D-J Basin, four new wells are on track to produce 100,000 bbl/d in their first year.

38. Callon Petroleum Co.

Headquarters: Natchez, Miss.

Market cap: $2.369 billion

Last year’s rank: 41

Production: 34,900 boe/d

Key plays: Permian

Callon Petroleum Co. (NYSE: CPE) made just one mistake in 2018—adding Delaware inventory in a deal with Cimarex Energy for $570 million. Within two weeks, Callon’s share value had plunged 16%; it only recovered in early October, six months after the deal was announced. Otherwise, it made strides in production—up 55% since 2017—and generated $41.22 per boe, up 27%, it reported in November. Simultaneous rig operations on its Monarch mega-pads have exceeded production by legacy pads by 16% and a second mega-pad is online. With 2018 transition to full asset development, Callon CEO Joe Gatto said 2019 will see it “entering a new phase of growth with the maturing of the company and our production base, a phase that provides optionality for delivering shareholder value.”

39. WildHorse Resource Development Corp.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $2.209 billion

Last year’s rank: 46

Production: 49,000 boe/d

Key plays: Eagle Ford

Chesapeake Energy is buying WildHorse Resource Development for about $4 billion, mostly in stock. WildHorse’s third-quarter oil realizations netted 104% of WTI prices, thanks to low differentials and favorable Gulf Coast pricing. And it brought online nearly 26 net wells in the Eagle Ford, along with three net wells in the Austin Chalk. The company also reported net income of $11.5 million, a reversal from third-quarter 2017 when it posted a net loss of $10.8 million.

40. QEP Resources Inc.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $2.152 billion

Last year’s rank: 43

Production: 156,500 boe/d

Key plays: Permian, Haynesville, Williston, Pinedale, Uinta

Plans change. QEP Resources Inc. (NYSE: QEP) hatched a strategy in February to become a Permian Basin pure-play operator, essentially changing the fabric of the company. That meant peeling off its Cotton Valley and Haynesville assets for $735 million, its silky Williston Basin assets for $1.7 billion and an assortment of Uinta Basin acreage for $155 million. Pro forma divestitures, QEP will work a 50,700-net-acre position in the Permian that averaged roughly 55,000 boe/d in third-quarter 2018. And, despite divesting $2.6 billion in assets, it hasn’t lost its shirt. Its market value remained in November roughly the same as at that time in 2017.

41. SRC Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $1.805 billion

Last year’s rank: 44

Production: 49,703 boe/d

Key plays: D-J Basin

Like other Colorado producers, SRC Energy Inc. (AMEX: SRCI) battled the overhang of the state’s Prop 112 ballot initiative, which ultimately failed at the polls. But, also like other Colorado producers, SRC continues to battle takeaway constraints out of the D-J Basin. A planned addition of 300 MMcf/d capacity by a third-party processor in the first quarter should ease the pain. Still, the company delivered 45% growth year/year despite the constrictions. The company formerly known as Synergy Resources expects to keep its activity flat at two rigs and achieve free cash flow this year.

42. Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $1.743 billion

Last year’s rank: 45

Production: 64,627 boe/d

Key plays: Delaware, Eagle Ford

Faced with takeaway constraints and widening differentials in West Texas, Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) pivoted its activity focus to the Eagle Ford Shale, where it now has four of its six rigs running. It expects to hold here until second-half 2019. The Eagle Ford will drive its production-growth targets this year. During the lull in the Delaware, it will test additional layers and multi-layer cube concepts. Carrizo added 10,000 Delaware acres from Devon Energy after these rankings were locked.

43. Gulfport Energy Corp.

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Market cap: $1.672 billion

Last year’s rank: 38

Production: 1,427 MMcfe/d

Key plays: Utica, Midcontinent, South Louisiana

Industry veteran Donnie Moore took the interim CEO post at Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) in the fourth quarter from his COO position, following the sudden departure of Mike Moore. The company generated 19% growth year/year as of third-quarter 2018. The early-entrant Utica Shale player rigged down there late in the year, while 55 wells await completion. Two rigs are working the Scoop in Oklahoma.

44. Extraction Oil & Gas Inc.

Headquarters: Denver

Market cap: $1.478 billion

Last year’s rank: 35

Production: 75,700 boe/d

Key plays: D-J Basin

Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: XOG) is beginning to feel as if its Ferrari is being throttled back. Just when the Denver producer received relief on DCP Midstream LP’s Plant 10 in August with 220 MMcf/d throughput, the midstreamer imposed a production allocation, effectively dialing back the E&P’s production 35%. A new plant is expected mid-2019 but will likely have its own allocations. In the meantime, Extraction is jazzed by results from its Broomfield project, a 12,000-acre test area with little previous production. And Broomfield takeaway will be serviced by its own Elevation Midstream LLC.

45. California Resources Corp.

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Market cap: $1.344 billion

Last year’s rank: 55

Production: 136,000 boe/d

Key plays: California

After having “drastically cut” capital allocation during the downturn, the California pure-player ramped up investment during 2018 and made several strategic moves. California Resources Corp. (NYSE: CRC) joined with Benefit Street Partners LLC in a $250 million drillco in the Los Angeles and San Joaquin basins, and with Macquarie in a $300 million JV to drill four fields in the San Joaquin Basin. It has three rigs running in the Los Angeles Basin and seven in the San Joaquin. In April, it acquired Chevron Corp.’s (NYSE: CVX) nonop interest in the 47,000-acre Elk Hills Field for about $500 million to realize 100% working interest.

46. Denbury Resources Inc.

Headquarters: Plano, Texas

Market cap: $1.338 billion

Last year’s rank: 52

Production: 59,181 boe/d

Key plays: Gulf Coast, Rockies

The CO2-flood specialist caught a few off guard in October when it announced plans to buy Eagle Ford Shale producer Penn Virginia Corp. (NASDAQ: PVAC) for $1.7 billion in stock and cash. The motivation: to bring Denbury Resources Inc.’s (NYSE: DNR) EOR expertise to Penn’s 87,000-acre oil-rich unconventional portfolio. Denbury currently operates CO2 floods along the Texas Coast in proximity to Penn’s position. It sees potential for 60 to 140 MMbbl recoverable. And, while EOR is upside, the purchase more than likely represents a shift to shorter-cycle projects based on Penn’s three-rig drilling program.

47. Laredo Petroleum Inc.

Headquarters: Tulsa, Okla.

Market cap: $1.292 billion

Last year’s rank: 36

Production: 71,382 boe/d

Key plays: Midland Basin

Wanting to find the upper limits of its Wolfcamp acreage’s capacity to produce, Laredo Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: LPI) in 2018 tested high-density drilling. It drilled six packages of wells designed to co-develop multiple landing points in the Upper and Middle Wolfcamp formations at a density of 24 to 32 wells per drilling spacing unit. The good news: These packages demonstrated that this development plan increases the total value of the leasehold. The bad news: It’s at a lower per-well value than lower-density development. Said simply, the wells declined a lot faster than wells more spread out. The high-density units are also capital-intensive. Combined with a will to operate within cash flow in 2019, Laredo is gearing down to a lower-density development going forward.

48. Talos Energy Inc.

Headquarters: Houston

Market cap: $1.235 billion

Last year’s rank: NEW

Production: 54,900 boe/d

Key plays: Gulf of Mexico

Talos Energy Inc. (NYSE: TALO) made its debut in the public realm in 2018 via a reverse merger with Stone Energy Corp. And the Gulf of Mexico pure-player has not broken stride. It signed a two-well commitment to drill two deepwater wells in the Phoenix complex—Tornado #3 and Boris #3—that are expected to be in production by 2H19. On the shelf, it successfully drilled a well in Ewing Bank Block 306 and two in Main Pass Block 72. Following its 2-Bbbl Zama discovery offshore Mexico, Talos spud the first appraisal well, Zama-2, in late November. Also, it acquired Whistler Energy II LLC, comprised of 14,500 acres in Green Canyon and was the high bidder on six deepwater and eight shallow water blocks at the most recent Gulf lease sale.

49. Northern Oil & Gas Inc.

Headquarters: Minnetonka, Minn.

Market cap: $1.166 billion

Last year’s rank: 63

Production: 26,708 boe/d

Key plays: Bakken

Noteworthy for its nonop strategy, Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (AMEX: NOG) cracks the Top 50 most valued producers nonetheless. Maybe that’s because of its other strategy: Partner with top producers in the resurging Bakken Shale play. The company recently added two deals to its repertoire: a $292 million, 10,600-acre acquisition of W Energy Partners LLC and a $151 million, 4,100-bbl/d purchase of Pivotal Petroleum Partners LP. Northern now holds some 152,000 net Bakken acres.

50. Baytex Energy Corp.

Headquarters: Calgary, Alberta

Market cap: $1.092 billion

Last year’s rank: 51

Production: 37,198 boe/d

Key plays: Eagle Ford

Baytex Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: BTE) big news this past year was its combination with Raging River Exploration Inc., a Duvernay producer that expanded its reach into the Canadian light-oil play. But it’s also an Eagle Ford player, having entered the play in 2014 with the acquisition of Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. With a little over 20,000 net acres in Karnes and Atascosa counties, the Eagle Ford represents 37% of Baytex total production.

Editor's note: Some executive comments were sourced from transcripts at SeekingAlpha.com.

Steve Toon can be reached at stoon@hartenergy.com; Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com; and Leslie Haines can be reached at lhaines@hartenergy.com.

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