Evergreen Resources Inc. retained its first-place spot with the lowest five-year all-sources finding and development cost in Howard, Weil, Labouisse, Friedrichs Inc.'s latest reserve and finding costs study. The Denver independent's five-year average of $1.62 per barrel of oil equivalent equaled its 1999 performance. But it was beaten last year by Plains Resources Inc., with its 67-cents-per-barrel-equivalent average, and Nuevo Energy Co., with an average of $1.10 per barrel equivalent. Plains came in second in the survey, with a $2.52-per-equivalent-barrel five-year average, followed by Triton Energy Ltd. at $2.52, Nuevo at $2.72 and Berry Petroleum Co. at $2.96. At the opposite extreme, EEX Corp. had the highest five-year average finding and development cost at $24.37 per equivalent barrel, followed by Fortune Natural Resources Corp. at $23.66, The Meridian Resources Corp. at $11.20, Petsec Energy Ltd. at $11.13, and Remington Oil & Gas Corp. at $9.60. The survey is one of the first rankings of independents' financial operating efficiencies each year. Howard Weil distributes it during its annual energy conference every spring in New Orleans. "Our goal is to provide a means of measuring relative and financial operating performance of oil and gas companies' most vital function: adding reserves," analysts Leonard J. Benedetto Jr. and Michael J. Nelson said in their introduction of the latest results. Evergreen had the lowest five-year average drilling finding and development costs in the survey at $1.57 per barrel equivalent, followed by Triton at $2.51, Cross Timbers Oil Co. at $2.87, Mallon Resources Corp. at $3.22, and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. at $3.44. When it came to acquisition finding and development costs, however, Plains Resources took the lead with a $1.05-per-barrel-equivalent five-year average. Mallon Resources had the second lowest average for the period at $1.11, followed by Evergreen at $1.29, Berry at $1.68 and Nuevo at $2.16. Denver independent Pennaco Energy Inc. had the highest 1999 rate of reserve replacement from drilling at 3,826%. Among producers in the group that have been operating for five years, Evergreen was on top with a 1,329% average annual reserve replacement rate from drilling, followed by Harken Energy Corp., Brigham Exploration Co. and Triton at 802%, and Mallon at 607%. Harken led in reserve replacement from acquisitions over five years, with an 848% annual average rate, followed by Magnum Hunter Resources Inc. at 580%, Devon Energy Corp. at 402%, and Cross Timbers and Titan Exploration Inc. at 365%. Pennaco had the highest five-year average percentage of total costs spent for land acquisitions at 53%. Fortune Natural Resources was a distant second at 27%, followed by Barrett Resources Corp. at 20%, Brigham Exploration and Callon Petroleum Co. at 19%, and Swift Energy Co. and HS Resources Inc. at a five-year annual average of 18%. Cross Timbers devoted an average 80% annually of its outlays to reserve acquisitions during the last five years, followed by Magnum Hunter's annual average of 76%, Devon Energy's 75%, Comstock Resources Inc.'s 67% and Pioneer Natural Resources Co.'s 65% average annual rate over five years. Devon led in total costs incurred in oil and gas activities with its more than $2.18 billion in expenditures last year, followed by Apache Corp. and its nearly $1.80 billion of outlays; Ocean Energy Inc., more than $1.36 billion; Santa Fe Snyder Corp., nearly $1.36 billion; and Burlington Resources Inc., $927 million. When it came to 1999 cash flow netbacks from E&P operations, Newfield Exploration Co. led the group with a cash flow of $10.74 per barrel, followed by Key Production Co. Inc. at $10.14; Swift Energy, $10.13; Stone Energy Corp., $9.95; and Murphy Oil Corp., $9.46. -Nick Snow