Plains Exploration & Production Company

Type: Public
On the web: http://www.pxp.com
Employees: 880
Employee growth: 6.5%

Plains Exploration & Production has ventured beyond the Great Plains to explore for oil and gas. A former subsidiary of Plains Resources, the company targets offshore and onshore areas to acquire, develop, and produce oil and gas. It operates in the Los Angeles and San Joaquin basins of California, the Santa Maria Basin offshore California, the Gulf Coast region, and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in the Rockies and the Mid-Continent and Texas. The company is focusing on attractive resource opportunities, including shale plays (Haynesville, Eagle Ford) and the tight-sand Granite/Atoka Wash play. In 2010 Plains Exploration and Production reported proved reserves of 416.1 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2011:
Sales: $1,964.5M
One year growth: 27.2%
Net income: $205.3M
Income growth: 98.8%

Officers:
Chairman, President, and CEO: James C. (Jim) Flores
EVP and CFO: Winston M. Talbert
VP Investor Relations and Director Corporate Information: Hance V. Myers III

Competitors:
Anadarko Petroleum
Chesapeake Energy
Pioneer Natural Resources