UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D.C. 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
Pursuant
to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
Date
of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 9,
2007
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Oklahoma
|
1-9260
|
73-1283193
|
(State
or other jurisdiction
of
incorporation)
|
(Commission
File Number)
|
(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
|
7130
South Lewis, Suite 1000, Tulsa, Oklahoma
|
74136
|
(Address
of principal executive offices)
|
(Zip
Code)
|
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code: (918)
493-7700
Not
Applicable
(Former
name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check
the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions:
Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
CFR
230.425)
|
Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
|
Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR
240.14d-2(b))
|
Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR
240.13e-4(c))
|
Section
8 - Other Events.
Item
8.01 Other Events.
On
January 9, 2007, Unit Corporation issued a press release announcing its 2007
capital expenditure budget for its operating segments. Unit Petroleum Company
has budgeted $326 million, excluding acquisitions, for 2007, of which $280
million is planned for exploration and development drilling. This budget
represents a 35% increase over the company's estimated 2006 capital
expenditures, excluding acquisitions. The company currently plans to participate
in the drilling of 270 wells during 2007, an increase of 11% over 2006. At
the
end of 2006, Unit Petroleum had spud 248 new wells and had completed drilling
operations on 233 of those wells. In addition, 11 wells were completed in
2006
that were spud in 2005 for a total of 244 completed wells. Of the 244 wells,
214
were completed as producing for a success rate of 88%.
Unit
Drilling Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $131 million for 2007,
which represents a decrease of 25% over estimated 2006 capital expenditures,
excluding acquisitions. Unit ended 2006 with a record 117 drilling rigs,
having
added six rigs to the fleet in 2006. The company recently completed building
its
117th drilling rig.
Superior
Pipeline Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $25 million for 2007.
During 2006, Superior completed the installation of a second natural gas
treatment plant on the Panola gathering system, acquired two natural gas
processing plants to be installed on existing facilities, completed the
acquisition of an additional gathering system and processing plant and added
an
additional 100 miles of pipeline. Superior also connected an additional 58
wells
to its gathering systems in 2006.
A
copy of
the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form
8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
Section
9 - Financial Statements and Exhibits
Item
9.01 Financial
Statements and Exhibits.
(a)
|
Financial
Statements of Businesses Acquired.
|
Not
Applicable.
(b)
|
Pro
Forma Financial Information.
|
Not
Applicable.
(c)
|
Shell
Company Transactions.
|
Not
Applicable
(d)
|
Exhibits.
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Exhibit
No.
|
Description
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99.1
|
Press
release announcing Unit Corporation's 2007 capital expenditure
budget.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
Unit
Corporation
|
|
Date:
January 9, 2007
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By:/s/
Mark E. Schell
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Name:
Mark E. Schell
|
|
Title:
Senior Vice President
|
2
EXHIBIT
INDEX
Description
|
|
99.1
|
Press
release announcing Unit Corporation's 2007 capital expenditure
budget.
|
news
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UNIT CORPORATION
|
|
7130
South Lewis Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
|
|
Telephone
918 493-7700, Fax 918 493-7714
|
Contact:
|
David
T. Merrill
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer & Treasurer
|
|
(918)
493-7700
|
For
Immediate Release…
January
9, 2007
UNIT
ANNOUNCES COMPANY-RECORD 2007 CAPITAL EXPENDITURE BUDGET
AND
PROVIDES OPERATIONS UPDATE
Tulsa,
Oklahoma….Unit Corporation (NYSE - UNT), a diversified energy company with a
consistently growing exploration and production asset base, one of the largest
onshore drilling fleet operating in the U.S., and a rapidly expanding midstream
business unit, today announced its planned 2007 operating capital budget
of $482
million, the largest in the Company’s 45-year history, and certain 2006
operating results of its wholly owned subsidiaries.
Unit
Petroleum Company
Unit
Petroleum Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $326 million, excluding
acquisitions, for 2007, of which $280 million is planned for exploration
and
development drilling. This budget represents a 37% increase over the company’s
estimated 2006 capital expenditures, excluding acquisitions. At the end of
2006,
Unit Petroleum had spud 248 new wells and had completed drilling operations
on
233 of those wells. In addition, 11 wells were completed in 2006 that were
spud
in 2005 for a total of 244 completed wells. Of the 244 wells, 214 were completed
as producing for a success rate of 88%.
The
company currently plans to participate in the drilling of 270 wells during
2007,
an increase of 11% over 2006. Although the Company does not provide quarterly
production forecasts, Unit’s preliminary 2007 annual guidance is approximately
60.0 billion cubic feet equivalent. The Company’s long-time stated goal is to
replace each year a minimum 150% of its production through drilling and
strategic acquisitions, a goal which the Company has successfully met since
1984.
Unit
Drilling Company
Unit
Drilling Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $131 million for 2007,
which represents a decrease of 25% over estimated 2006 capital expenditures.
Unit ended 2006 with a record 117 drilling rigs, having added six rigs to
the
fleet in 2006. The company recently completed the building of its
117th
drilling
rig, a 750-horsepower, diesel electric rig, and is in the process of
constructing two additional drilling rigs that will be completed in the first
quarter of 2007. Both of these new rigs will be 1,500 horsepower,
diesel-electric drilling rigs and are already under contract. Of Unit’s current
117 drilling rigs, 110 are under contract. The company has enjoyed having
its
rigs at or above 90% utilization for 12 consecutive quarters, which is above
industry-average utilization rates for the drilling group.
Superior
Pipeline Company
Superior
Pipeline Company has budgeted capital expenditures of $25 million for 2007.
During 2006, Superior completed the installation of a second natural gas
treatment plant on the Panola gathering system, acquired two natural gas
processing plants to be installed on existing facilities, completed the
acquisition of an additional gathering system and processing plant and added
an
additional 100 miles of pipeline. Currently, Superior's asset base consists
of
three natural gas treatment plants, six operated natural gas processing plants,
37 active gathering systems and approximately 600 miles of pipeline. Also
during
2006, Superior connected an additional 58 wells to its gathering systems.
Management
Comments
Larry
Pinkston, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "For the exploration and
production group, we have increased the number of wells we plan to drill
this
year by 11% and anticipate this to be a positive impact to our operations.
We
are confident that our high-quality E&P asset base offers us multiple ways
to realize meaningful growth for our shareholders. During the period 2003
through 2005, we increased our reserves 35% on a debt-adjusted per share
basis,
an excellent return when you consider our third quarter 2006
debt-to-capitalization ratio of 12%. Our drilling operations remain very
active,
despite the recent softening in commodity prices. We’re very pleased with how
our drilling customers continue to turn to Unit, which we believe is a testament
to the quality of our rigs and people. We are very excited about how Superior
Pipeline continues to grow and add to its asset base. Superior is rapidly
establishing a significant operation in the Arkoma and Mid-Continent basins,
two
of America’s important regional plays for meeting the growing need for natural
gas. We look forward to announcing more 2006 results when they become
available.”
____________________________________________________
Unit
Corporation is a Tulsa-based, publicly held energy company engaged through
its
subsidiaries in oil and gas exploration, production, contract drilling and
natural gas gathering and processing. Unit’s Common Stock is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange under the symbol UNT. For more information about Unit
Corporation, visit our website at http://www.unitcorp.com.
This
news
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities
Litigation Reform Act that involve risks and uncertainties, including the
amount
and value of the company’s oil and natural gas reserves, the number of future
wells the company’s exploration and production segment plans to drill,
productive capabilities of the wells, future demand for oil and natural gas,
oil
and natural gas reserve information, anticipated production rates from company
wells, the prospective capabilities of offset acreage, anticipated oil and
natural gas prices, anticipated operational dates for drilling rigs under
construction, future rates to be paid for the company’s drilling rigs as well as
other development, operational, implementation and opportunity risks, and
other
factors described from time to time in the company’s publicly available SEC
reports, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expected.