Oasis Petroleum Inc., Houston, signed two separate purchase and sale agreements to sell an estimated 4,400 boe/d of net production and 65,000 net acres of noncore assets in the Williston Basin for $283 million. The buyer was not disclosed.
The agreements include the company’s Foreman Butte position in southwest McKenzie county in North Dakota, which included inventory it characterized as fairway, and certain non-operated acreage.
Following the company’s acquisition of Forge Energy for $946 million in December, Oasis highlighted 200,000 net acres and 8,000-10,000 boe/d of production from the Williston Basin, to sell for estimated proceeds of $500 million to reduce debt and help fund the acquisition.
The company will continue to evaluate additional noncore properties for potential divestment as it optimizes its portfolio and high-grades its assets, said Thomas B. Nusz, Oasis’ chairman and chief executive officer.
Oasis is increasingly focused on the Permian’s Delaware Basin that also extends into New Mexico. The Forge acquisition covered 20,300 net acres across Loving, Ward, Winkler, and Reeves counties in Texas.
With one rig running on the Forge acreage and the potential to add a second rig in second-half 2018, Oasis plans to drill 16-20 gross wells and complete 6-8 gross wells with a capital program of $100 million in 2018. The largely contiguous acreage blocks allow for longer lateral development with an expected median lateral length of 8,000 ft, Oasis said.
The Oasis Delaware acreage position is in the deepest part of the basin, with thick reservoirs having high OOIP, which are oil-rich and overpressured. This area also has multi-stacked pay potential in the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp formations.
Oasis Petroleum was founded in February 2007, by Thomas B. Nusz and Taylor L. Reid and was financed by EnCap Investments.
As of December 31, 2017, the company had 312 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated proved reserves, of which 78% was petroleum and 22% was natural gas.
Oasis Petroleum is one of only a few oil producers that operates its own hydraulic fracturing operations, creating valuable cost savings in oil field development.
Compiled and Published by GIB KNIGHT
Gib Knight is a private oil and gas investor and consultant, providing clients advanced analytics and building innovative visual business intelligence solutions to visualize the results, across a broad spectrum of regulatory filings and production data in Oklahoma and Texas. He is the founder of OklahomaMinerals.com, an online resource designed for mineral owners in Oklahoma.
