E&Ps' Q4 earnings to show shift toward oil

摘要

Houston-In a year of restructuring, fourth-quarter 2010 earnings should reveal a mixed bag of company-specific results among the North American independent E&Ps, driven by the shift toward increased exploration for oil at the expense of natural gas. That shift has had a varying influence on different operators, depending on their need to spend on new assets, sell existing properties or wait for natural gas prices to rebound, according to analysts setting earnings targets for the quarter ended December 31.