Anadarko Petroleum Corporation APC will release first-quarter 2016 financial results after the market closes on May 2, 2016. In the prior quarter, this oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company reported a positive surprise of 45.71%. Let’s see how things are shaping up at the company prior to this announcement.Factors to Consider Depressed commodity prices are a serious concern for the players in the Oil & Natural gas space. Anadarko to cope with low oil announced during the quarter its plans to lower capital expenditure by nearly 50% from 2015 levels and also trim the dividend rate to enhance financial flexibility.Anadarko Petroleum expects 2016 oil sales volume to remain flat compared with 2015 levels, despite a sizeable decline in its capital expenditure.In addition, during the first quarter, the company monetized non-core assets worth nearly $1.3 billion and utilized the proceeds to lower its debt levels.Surprise History The above chart indicates that Anadarko Petroleum Corporation was able to generate positive earnings surprises in two out of the last four quarters. The average positive surprise was 33.32%.Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively show that Anadarko Petroleum is likely to beat estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. This is not the case here.Zacks ESP: This is because the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at a loss of $1.18, resulting in 0.00% ESP.Zacks Rank: Though Anadarko Petroleum’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of the ESP, its 0.00% ESP makes a beat uncertain this quarter.We caution against stocks with a Zacks Ranks #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.Stocks to ConsiderStocks in the U.S. oil and natural gas exploration and production space worth considering on the basis of our model are as follows:EQT Corp. EQT has an earnings ESP of +225.0% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is expected to report earnings before the market opens on Apr 28, 2016.Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK has an earnings ESP of +9.09% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is expected to report earnings before the market opens on May 5, 2016.Murphy Oil Corp. MUR has an earnings ESP of +24.14% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is expected to report earnings after the market closes on May 4, 2016.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report EQT CORP (EQT): Free Stock Analysis Report CHESAPEAKE ENGY (CHK): Free Stock Analysis Report ANADARKO PETROL (APC): Free Stock Analysis Report MURPHY OIL (MUR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research