U.S. Energy Buys Working Interest In Bakken

Sale of working interest in 23 drilling units in McKenzie, Williams and Montrail counties, ND for $2.5 million.

U.S. Energy Corp. (Nasdaq: USEG) has purchased working interests in 23 drilling units in McKenzie, Williams and Montrail Counties, North Dakota, for $2.5 million from an undisclosed seller.

The wells, in the Bakken and Three Forks formation, have an estimated 307,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of proved reserves. U.S. Energy’s working interests in the wells averages 1.45% and ranges from less than 1% to approximately 5%. There are 27 gross producing wells in the acreage. Of these, 25 are producing from the Bakken formation and 2 are producing from the Three Forks formation.

All acreage (~400 net acres) is currently held by production and produces approximately 47 BOE per day net to U.S. Energy. Looking forward, there is the potential for U.S. Energy to participate in an additional 135 gross wells from the Bakken and Three Forks formations combined. The effective date of the transaction is July 1, 2012.

"We are pleased to add another active Bakken package to our portfolio of assets. This acquisition increases our proved reserves significantly at accretive value and adds an additional approximate 47 net barrels of stabilized production to our bottom line," said Keith Larsen, chief executive of U.S. Energy.

U.S. Energy is based in Riverton, Wyoming.