For Investors Only: This Will Ruin Someone's Day -- Nuverra On The Hook For $181 Million For A Two-Vehicle Accident; Insurance Limit Of $16 Million -- Ya Just Gotta Love Texas Juries

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Dividends: eight companies announced increased dividends/distributions, and most are significant increases.

In-Play:

Abraxas Petroleum Corp announces sale of WyCross for $73 mln : Co recently executed a definitive agreement to sell the company's Eagle Ford interests at WyCross in McMullen County, Texas to an undisclosed buyer for $73 mln. The sale is subject to customary closing conditions and purchase price adjustments and reflects an effective date of December 1, 2013.

The assets to be sold consist of approximately 1,200 net acres, 3.7 mln barrels of proved reserves (1) (2.8 mln barrels of oil, 3.0 bln cubic feet of gas and 0.5 mln barrels of NGLS) and produced 655 boepd (597 barrels of oil per day, 154 mln cubic feet of gas per day and 32 barrels of NGLs per day) net to Abraxas during the month of September 2013. Abraxas plans to use the proceeds from this sale to immediately pay down the company's bank line, before being ultimately redeployed into additional operated lease blocks in the Eagle Ford and Bakken.

Closing is scheduled for December 2013. With the removal of the WyCross production volumes and two additional WyCross well completions in 2013, Abraxas is revising its 2013 production and exit rate guidance. Abraxas now expects 2013 production to average 4,300-4,350 boepd with an exit rate of approximately 4,500 boepd.

In-Play:

Nuverra Environmental Solutions responds to Texas jury verdict involving subsidiary Heckmann Water Resources : Co responded to the District Court of Dimmitt County, Texas jury verdict against its operating subsidiary Heckmann Water Resources (CVR), Inc. in a wrongful death case involving a vehicle accident.

The jury awarded $181 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages. The accident occurred in May 2012 and involved a Heckmann Water Resources truck and one other vehicle. No citations were issued against the subsidiary or its employees.

"We are disappointed by the actions of this Texas state court jury but remain confident in the judicial system at both the trial court and appellate court levels," said Mark Johnsrud, Chief Executive Officer. "While we are highly sympathetic to the deceased and his family for his unfortunate passing, we believe based on input from our legal advisors and consultants, both trial and appellate, that this recent award exceeds well-established judicial norms and precedent by a staggering margin. The verdict is subject to post-trial motions and has not yet been entered as a judgment. After conferring with our legal advisors, we believe we have meritorious grounds to seek reconsideration of the verdict and to appeal. We intend to file motions to reduce or overturn the award and otherwise to file for reconsideration of the case," Mr. Johnsrud added.

Based on the pre-award analysis of the case, Heckmann Water Resources exposure in this matter was not expected to exceed its available insurance limits of $16 million. Although it continues to review the matter, the Company does not anticipate establishing an accounting reserve for the matter at this time. [I haven't followed Nuverra for quite some time: the chart is interesting to say the least -- look at the past three months; headline store that Nuverra announced a reverse 1-10 stock split.]

In-Play:

Newfield Exploration updates its production and capital investment outlook for 2014-16; Domestic liquids production expected to grow 30% in 2014. Company plans to invest ~$1.6 bln in 2014, focused on liquids growth (NFX) 26.40 : Co updated its "three-year plan" and provided additional information through its @NFX publication, located on its website.

"Our three-year plan provides strong cash flow and production growth," said Lee K. Boothby, Newfield Chairman, President and CEO. "Last February, we issued our first three-year plan, reflecting confidence in the quality and depth of our asset base as we complete our transition to a domestic resource co. Our growth outlook for 2014-15 is substantially unchanged, and we today introduced guidance for 2016. The execution of our plan through 2016 is expected to yield more than a 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in liquids production and a 25% CAGR in cash flow."

Net production from continuing operations in 2014 is expected to range from 44-48 million BOE, or 10-20% higher than 2013 estimated net production from continuing operations of ~40 million BOE. Domestic liquids production in 2014 is expected to increase 30% over the previous year. Newfield plans to invest ~$1.6 billion in 2014 in its continuing operations.

Boothby continued, "We are increasing our 2014 investments in our SCOOP and STACK plays in the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma. Our results to date have been very strong and we are improving our returns through fewer drilling days, optimized completion practices and the proven efficiencies associated with pad drilling. We are fortunate that three of our four focus areas are largely 'held-by-production' and we can redirect capital to our SCOOP and STACK plays without foregoing any future drilling opportunities in other regions."

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.