
Enduring Resources II LLC is far from finished in the Permian Basin. “We sold about a third of our acreage and about 85% of our production,” Barth Whitham, president and CEO, told Oil and Gas Investor Aug. 1 upon closing the $2.5 billion sale of 63,000 net acres to American Energy Partners LP.
“We have some additional Permian acreage.”
The privately held exploration and production (E&P) company had three blocks of leasehold in the Midland and Delaware basins. What it sold is in the southern Midland Basin in Reagan, Irion and Crockett counties, producing some 16,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day. Commerciality of the Wolfcamp Formation in the area has largely been delineated, such as by Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), which is already onto pad drilling there.
Another Enduring block is also in the Midland Basin and the third is in the Delaware Basin. What will get the most attention now? Whitham said, “It’s more Delaware than Midland.”
The company also has Rockies-gas assets, including in the Uinta Basin. “Right now, because oil is the more valuable commodity than gas, it makes us work more in our Texas positions than in our Rockies positions. They’re gassier and in a more complicated regulatory environment.
“We’ve got quite a bit still to do in the Permian.”
Although American Energy Partners’ press releases have said it was buying acreage from Enduring, a perception developed that Enduring was exiting the Permian Basin. “But we haven’t gotten out of the Permian,” Whitham says. “Some of our vendors and our people were a little worried. It was a bit confusing--some of these news articles about AEP and Enduring. Some people had the impression AEP was buying Enduring out.”
Enduring sold its roughly-100,000 net acre Eagle Ford position to Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) and Talisman Energy Inc. (NYSE: TLM, TO: TLM.TO) for $1.4 billion in 2010. In that, Enduring had a South Texas exit. “We sold a pretty substantial piece of our production, but we typically have a portfolio of projects we’re working on so, if we sell one, we pivot into some of the other assets we have.”
Enduring had four rigs drilling its position in the southern Midland Basin. AEP, formed in 2013 by Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) co-founder Aubrey McClendon, reported in the deal announcement that it expects to increase that to up to eight rigs by year-end 2015. Also, it estimates potential for some 2,500 gross well locations, 1,750 net, on the leasehold.
Recommended Reading
Plug Power CEO Sees Hydrogen as Part of US Energy Dominance
2025-01-29 - Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh says the U.S., with renewable energy resources, should be the world’s leading exporter of hydrogen as it competes globally, including with China.
Baker Hughes CEO: Expect ‘Volatility, Noise’ Around Energy Transition
2025-03-12 - Baker Hughes and Linde executives spoke about lower carbon resources such as hydrogen and geothermal, which will be part of the energy mix but unlikely to displace natural gas.
Energy Transition in Motion (Week of Jan. 17, 2025)
2025-01-17 - Here is a look at some of this week’s renewable energy news, including more than $8 billion more in loans closed by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.
DOE Awards Two More Hydrogen Hubs Initial Funding
2025-01-22 - The awards were announced days before President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to pause disbursement of funds appropriated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Energy Transition in Motion (Week of March 28, 2025)
2025-03-28 - Here is a look at some of this week’s renewable energy news, including another record for renewables power capacity growth.
Comments
Add new comment
This conversation is moderated according to Hart Energy community rules. Please read the rules before joining the discussion. If you’re experiencing any technical problems, please contact our customer care team.