Lafayette-based PetroQuest Energy Inc. announced that its 2009 capital expenditures totaled $60 million, compared with the $65 million to $75 million the company had forecast.

The company’s annual production remained at the equivalent of 90 million to 100 million cubic feet of gas per day. The reduced budget is the result of delaying several projects from the fourth quarter, according to PetroQuest. In addition, the costs of wells in the Fayetteville Shale were lower than expected.

Meanwhile, PetroQuest said it achieved its previously announced production levels for 2009, despite a drop during the fourth quarter. The company's fourth-quarter production was the equivalent of 81 million to 83 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, lower than the 83 million to 88 million cubic feet expected.

PetroQuest was forced to shut-in one well when there were problems with another company's pipeline downstream from the well. Several Gulf Coast wells also had to be shut in during Hurricane Ida.