U.S. Energy Development Corp., an E&P firm which provides direct investments in energy, announced it has entered into a joint venture with Midland-based Atlantic Energy Partners LLC to develop and operate three horizontal wells within the Permian Basin in Ward County, Texas, U.S. Energy announced on Aug. 11. This strengthens U.S. Energy's existing position in Ward County where earlier this year, they completed and put online a three well pad at a developmental cost of approximately $30 million.

"This joint venture comes at an ideal time as we expand our footprint in the Permian Basin and the market continues to recover from COVID-19 with the drilling of new wells," Jordan Jayson, CEO of U.S. Energy, said in a statement on Aug. 11. "We look forward to working with the Atlantic team on this project in the Rio Hondo area and look forward to returning exceptional value to our investors."

The partnership highlights U.S. Energy's strength as an operator and Atlantic's position as a strong E&P firm known for its technical expertise and ability to assemble tier one prospects. Additionally, both companies are tightly aligned on their commitments to ESG.

The three wells, which target oil producing zones in the Wolfcamp Shale, are projected to be online in the first quarter of 2022 and will carry a total project development cost of approximately $28 million. Over the past year, U.S. Energy's activity in the Permian Basin includes closing on $86 million of projects, and the firm is projected to invest more than $150 million over the next 12 months.

"Since 2008, our team has been focused on pursuing opportunities in the Permian Basin of West Texas; specifically, multi-pay Wolfcamp Shale projects which are full of development potential," said Richard Jennings, CEO of Atlantic Energy. "In addition to our own operations, the partnership with U.S. Energy and their ability to execute and operate on task, gives us the ability to accelerate the development of these wells. We look forward to having these wells online in the first half of 2022."