By: Paul Takahashi – Houston Chronicle – Lime Rock Resources plans to buy oil and gas wells in West Texas for $508.3 million.
The Houston oil company on Wednesday said it signed a deal with a private seller to buy oil and natural gas properties in Loving County, west of Odessa. The wells, which tap into the prolific Delaware Basin, produce about 15,000 barrels of oil per day.
“The high volatility in the energy business over the last 18 months has created some unique opportunities in the oil and gas property market,” Lime Rock CEO Eric Mullins said in a statement. “This acquisition is one of those opportunities, which fits quite well with the Lime Rock Resources acquisition strategy.”
Land prices in the oil patch plummeted during the historic oil bust caused by the global pandemic. The average price of U.S. shale acreage fell by more than 70 percent to $5,000 per acre in 2020 from $17,000 per acre in 2018, according to Rystad, a Norwegian energy research firm.
Lime Rock Resources acquires, operates and improves oil and natural gas properties nationally to provide investors with long-term returns. The company’s management arm, established in 1998, has raised $8.9 billion in private equity for investments in oil and gas through Lime Rock Resources and Lime Rock Partners, which invests in other exploration and production and oil-field services companies.
The company’s Delaware Basin purchase is expected to close on Sept. 30.
