W And T Offshore Inc Company Profile

W&T Offshore, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas producer, active in the exploration, development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico. W&T Offshore, Inc. is a Texas corporation originally organized as a Nevada corporation in 1988, and successor by merger to W&T Oil Properties, Inc., a Louisiana corporation organized in 1983. Our interest in fields, leases, structures and equipment are primarily owned by the parent company, W&T Offshore, Inc. and our wholly-owned subsidiary, W & T Energy VI, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

The Gulf of Mexico is an area where we have developed significant technical expertise and where high production rates associated with hydrocarbon deposits have historically provided us the best opportunity to achieve a rapid return on our invested capital. We have leveraged our experience in the conventional shelf (water depths of less than 500 feet) to develop higher impact capital projects in the Gulf of Mexico in both the deepwater (water depths in excess of 500 feet) and the deep shelf (well depths in excess of 15,000 feet and water depths of less than 500 feet). We have acquired rights to explore and develop new prospects and acquired existing oil and natural gas properties in both the deepwater and the deep shelf, while at the same time continuing our focus on the conventional shelf. Over the last several years, we have increased our exploration and development activities in the deepwater, which has led to a greater percentage of our total production coming from deepwater wells.

As of December 31, 2016, we have interests in offshore leases covering approximately 750,000 gross acres (450,000 net acres) spanning across the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) off the coasts of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. On a gross acreage basis, the conventional shelf constitutes approximately 490,000 gross acres and deepwater constitutes approximately 260,000 gross acres of our offshore acreage.

We seek to increase our reserves through acquisitions, exploratory and infill drilling, recompletions and workovers. With respect to acquisitions, we have focused on acquiring properties where we can develop an inventory of drilling prospects that will enable us to add reserves, production and cash flow post-acquisition. Although the current economic environment has caused us to take a conservative approach towards acquisitions, our acquisition team continues to identify and evaluate properties that will fit our profile and that we believe will add strategic and financial value to our Company.

Our business strategy is to acquire, explore and develop oil and natural gas reserves on the OCS, the area of our historical success and technical expertise, which we believe will yield desirable rates of return commensurate with our perception of risks. The rapid and extended decline in crude oil, NGLs and natural gas prices that commenced in the second half of 2014 created more uncertainty about future exploration and development. Although commodity prices stabilized at higher levels during the second half of 2016 compared to the first half of 2016, prices are still low from historical levels and price volatility occurring in the last three years continues to affect our evaluation of potential returns and risks of our drilling projects. We believe attractive acquisition opportunities will continue to become available in the Gulf of Mexico as the major integrated oil companies and other large independent oil and gas exploration and production companies continue to divest properties to focus on larger and more capital-intensive projects that better match their long-term strategic goals. Also, we expect opportunities will arise as producers seek to divest their properties for short-term cash flow needs. Our plans for the short-term include operating within cash flow, maintaining liquidity, meeting our financial obligations, and pursuing acquisitions meeting our criteria.