RANGE RESOURCES CORP. IS SCALING BACK ITS SPENDING PLANS BY ALMOST HALF A BILLION DOLLARS WITH THE SOFTENING ENERGY MARKET

RANGE RESOURCES CORP. IS SCALING BACK ITS SPENDING PLANS BY ALMOST HALF A BILLION DOLLARS WITH THE SOFTENING ENERGY MARKET

Range Resources Corp. is scaling back its spending plans by almost half a billion dollars with the softening energy market and is earmarking about 95 percent of it for its Marcellus Shale operations.

Its 2015 capital plan will be reduced from the $1.3 billion announced in December to about $870 million because of what Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) said was "continuing erosion in commodity prices." Its previous capital-spending plan was already about 18 percent less than 2014, according to a December story in the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Range expects to have 20 percent annual growth in production for the year, down slightly from the 24 percent growth it had in 2014.

CEO Jeff Ventura said Range was well positioned to win with the prevailing energy market.

"The time and effort that Range spent in identifying and capturing one of the largest acreage positions in the core of the Marcellus with three stacked reservoirs and low development costs gives Range a distinct competitive advantage in this period of low commodity prices, and we will continue to adapt and take advantage of opportunities as commodity markets change," Ventura said in a statement.

Range also said its Mariner East pipeline started moving gas in early December, earlier than expected, although it's not fully operational yet.

Range Resources is based in Fort Worth, Texas, but its local headquarters is at Southpointe.