Unocal Sees 63% Gas, Oil Production Boost by ’07

Unocal Corp. estimated that its oil and natural-gas production will rise 63% by 2007, drawing from key projects in the U.S. and Asia and from other regions still being explored.

If new fields produce as expected, oil and gas production will average 800,000 barrels a day within six years, the company said. That’s up from about 490,000 last year. Unocal said it expects production of 505,000 to 515,000 barrels a day this year.

To reach the target, Unocal said, it will maintain capital spending of $1.8 billion to $2 billion annually and reduce its costs for finding oil to $5.50 a barrel, compared with $5.60 to $7.30 this year.

The company also said it expects full-year profit from operations between $3.20 and $3.40 a share, in line with current $3.31-a-share average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/ First Call.

El Segundo-based Unocal is drilling in deep-water areas in Indonesia and the Gulf of Mexico that it expects to hold significant reserves.

Its project in the Ranggas field in Indonesia is expected to produce 350 million to 650 million barrels of oil and gas, according to company data distributed at a Lehman Bros. conference in New York. Unocal owns 80% of the project.

Wells in the Trident field in the Gulf of Mexico hold reserves of 320 million to 800 million barrels of oil and gas, Unocal said. The company has a 59.5% interest in the Trident field.

Unocal is expected to report third-quarter earnings of 57 cents a share, based on First Call estimates. The company reported earnings of 92 cents a share in the third quarter of last year.

Shares of Unocal rose 16 cents to $35.95 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have fallen 7.1% this year.

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