Murphy Oil closed sales of non-core operated assets across its western Canadian footprint.

A subsidiary of Houston-based Murphy Oil Corp. completed a divestiture of non-core assets in the Kaybob Duvernay play and its entire non-operated Placid Montney position.

The sales generated cash proceeds of approximately US$104 million (CA$141 million), Murphy announced in a Sept. 15 news release.

The divestiture, first announced in August, was originally expected to bring in cash proceeds of approximately US$112 million. A portion of the proceeds will be directed to investment in West Africa and Asia.

“We are pleased to unlock the value of this non-core portion of our Kaybob Duvernay and Placid Montney assets,” said Murphy President and CEO Roger W. Jenkins in the release. “We look forward to progressing our capital allocation framework, as well as allocating proceeds towards our new business in Côte d'Ivoire and development in Vietnam.”

The divested assets included the Saxon and Simonette areas of the Kaybob Duvernay, where Murphy holds a 70% working interest as operator.

The sale included Murphy’s 30% working interest in the Placid Montney assets operated by Athabasca Oil Corp., as well as pipelines, batteries and related processing and marketing contracts.

The deal also included 138 net drilling locations across 42,000 net acres in Kaybob Duvernay and 26,000 net acres in Placid Montney.

The combined assets currently produce approximately 1,700 boe/d net, 39% oil. Net proved reserves were 5.3 MMboe as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Also on Sept. 15, Murphy announced plans to redeem its outstanding 5.750% senior notes due 2025. The redemption date for the notes will be Oct. 15; Payment of the redemption price, including accrued and unpaid interest, will be made on Oct. 16, Murphy said in a regulatory filing.

Comments