With noncore assets like this, Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) must have some pretty nice friends in the Delaware Basin and Stack Play.
Devon said June 15 that it would sell assets it had been shopping in the Midland Basin in two deals valued at $858 million. The transactions include its upstream assets in the southern Midland Basin as well as undeveloped leasehold in Martin County, Texas.
So far in 2016, the Oklahoma City-based company has closed or inked deals to sell $2.1 billion, eclipsing the low end of its divestiture goal of $2 billion to $3 billion.
“We anticipate our total noncore asset sales to be at or above the top end of our $2 billion to $3 billion guidance, with the sale of our 50% interest in the Access Pipeline” in Canada, said Devon president and CEO Dave Hager. The pipeline interest may sell for up to $1 billion.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was the buyer of Devon’s northern Midland positions. The company will purchase working interest in Martin County, Texas, along with acreage in Midland, Upton, Reagan, Glasscock, Andrews, Dawson, Gaines and Howard counties.
Pioneer will pay $435 million, subject to normal closing adjustments, for about 28,000 net acres.
For Devon, the deals come just nine days after Devon said June 6 it had signed three deals to sell noncore upstream assets in East Texas, the Anadarko Basin as well as the overriding royalty interest on the northern Midland Basin acreage it sold June 15. All told, the company said the deals were worth roughly $1 billion.
More Rigs, Spending
The acreage bought by Pioneer is nearly all HBP and located in the core of the Midland. Significant portions of the acreage offset existing Pioneer acreage, according to a press release.
About 15,000 net acres of the acquired land is located in the Sale Ranch area in Martin County and northern Midland County where Pioneer has drilled its most productive Wolfcamp B wells, the release said.
The acquisition, combined with Pioneer’s existing footprint in the area, will add about 70 Wolfcamp B locations to Pioneer’s Sale Ranch area drilling inventory. The locations have an average lateral length of about 9,000 feet.
As a result of the deal, Pioneer plans to add five horizontal rigs during the second half of 2016, increasing its rig count to 17. The first rig is expected to be added in September, with two rigs added in each of October and November. The company plans to focus on the Sale Ranch area once the well locations are permitted.
Consequently, Pioneer’s 2016 capital budget is expected to increase by about $100 million from $2 billion to $2.1 billion as a result of the rig additions. The company said it will fund its capital spending with forecasted operating cash flow of $1.5 billion, cash on hand and the remaining $500 million of proceeds from the Eagle Ford Shale midstream business sale.
Devon, too, upped its 2016 upstream capex by $200 million to a range of between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion. Capital investment will be directed toward the Delaware Basin and the company’s more recently acquired Oklahoma Stack play by the third quarter of 2016.
Devon said it plans to add three operate rigs to its drilling plan and will further study increased activity in the fourth quarter.
Confident in the proceeds it will be able to use, Devon additionally increased its production guidance by 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). For 2016, production guidance from core assets will be 550 Mboe/d at the midpoint.
Devon said it will provide additional information during its second-quarter 2016 earnings disclosures.
Pioneer's acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.
Jefferies LLC was the lead financial adviser to Devon on the transactions. RBC Richardson Barr was also a financial adviser to Devon. Vinson & Elkins LLP was legal adviser to Devon.
Check back for more details as this story develops. Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com. Emily Moser can be reached at emoser@hartenergy.com.
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