Carrizo Oil Inc. (CRZO)

[Timothy Smith]

Houston- based Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) was originally formed to explore and develop natural gas fields in the Barnett shale formation of Northwest Texas.

But now, Carrizo is moving away from natural gas in favor of what CEO and President, Chip Johnson, calls "premier oil and liquids-rich plays."

In other words, the company is going to be concentrating more of its efforts on oil.

To that end, Carrizo announced last week that it would be selling off large portions of its natural gas interests in the Barnett and Marcellus regions. The parcels will deliver a total of $268 million to company coffers.

And that's just the latest in a series of moves to transform the company.

Indeed, Carrizo first announced its plans to move into oil-focused horizontal drilling in the Eagle Ford shale formation in South Texas back in 2010.

Since that time, the company has been aggressively accumulating acreage and starting new well projects.