Dallas’ IOG Capital LP has entered a trio of deals that will fund up to $130 million in the Eagle Ford, the Merge area of the Stack play and the Arkoma-Woodford, the private-equity firm said Sept. 14.

The DrillCo projects will be conducted through new IOG affiliate IOG Resources LLC and include a well program with Earthstone Energy Inc. (NYSE: ESTE). Two additional Oklahoma partnerships expand IOG’s investments to more than 17,000 net acres in the Stack and Merge plays.

Specific dollar amounts weren’t disclosed for the three transactions.

IOG was founded by former Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) CFO Marc Rowland in 2014 and has since funded 23 investments and participated in 359 wells. Rowland said at a 2016 Hart Energy event the company initially raised about $942 million in capital.

IOG said a July joint development agreement (JDA) partners it with Earthstone Energy in the development of 11 Eagle Ford wells in Gonzales County, Texas. IOG has the potential to participate in up to 15 additional wells in the project, the firm said.

Earthstone’s July JDA encompasses about 625 net acres in southern, the company said in regulatory filings. The JDA reduced Earthstone’s interests in the Davis, Cannon East and Pilgrim Units.

Earthstone, based in The Woodlands, said its financial partner is obligated to pay a higher share of the capex on six wells in order to earn 50% of the interest in the units and adjacent acreage.

Earthstone drilled a two-well pad in the Davis Unit, where it retains a 16.7% working interest, and three wells in the Pilgrim Unit, where it has 18.9% working interest.

The JDA reduced Earthstone’s 2017 Eagle Ford capital exposure by about $7 million, inclusive of wells and facilities.

IOG closed a second JDA in August with a private family operator based in Oklahoma City. The JDA calls for up to 18 wells to be funded in Canadian County, Okla.

At the end of August, IOG entered another JDA with Red Mountain Energy. The companies will jointly fund up to 20 wells targeting the Woodford Shale in the Arkoma Basin. The JDA is the second joint venture for the companies. In February, the two companies sold acreage and production in Woodward County, Okla., to an undisclosed, public company.

The new investments in the Merge and Arkoma-Woodford increased IOG and its affiliates’ total acreage position in Oklahoma to more than 17,000 net acres, including about 80% concentrated in the Stack plays’ Dewey, Major, Kingfisher and Blaine counties in Oklahoma.

IOG investments include interests in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Bakken, Marcellus shales and Arkoma-Woodford areas.

Rowland said IOG is partnering with “top-tier operators” to help them achieve their development plans.

He said the firm remains committed to providing “mutually beneficial project-based solutions to capable operators with exceptional assets, requiring between $25 million-$150 million of development capital.”

As of September, IOG has deployed more than $500 million in more than 360 oil and gas wells in multiple states.

Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.

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