Earlier this week, I wrote about how leading Canadian gas producer EnCana
After divesting its Canadian operations last year, Cabot is almost purely focused on the U.S. onshore. (There are limited operations in shallow water right off the Gulf coast.) The company has just two divisions now: North and South.
Down south, Cabot is plugging away at both the Haynesville/Bossier shale in eastern Texas and the Eagle Ford shale in southern Texas. Both programs are in very early stages of development.
While there was initial excitement surrounding the potential of the Haynesville on the Texas side of the Louisiana border late last year, following the release of a flashy production test by Devon Energy
In the oilier Eagle Ford play, Cabot has partnered up with EOG Resources
North of the Mason-Dixon, you've got the Marcellus shale in Appalachia. Cabot has drilled 61 horizontal wells in the play to date, so the program is coming along, but it hasn't been remotely smooth sailing. Cabot has run afoul of state regulators repeatedly. While there have been blowouts at wells operated by Chief Oil & Gas and EOG, Cabot has easily had the most high-profile run of safety violations.
This problematic track record makes me reluctant to give the company two thumbs up, no matter how good its asset base may be. I would suggest that investors consider Range Resources