Elk Range Royalties purchased 250,000 net royalty acres from Occidental Petroleum in the Denver-Julesburg (D-J) Basin for $905 million, the minerals and royalties company said March 21.

The deal comes as Oxy works to reduce debt after closing a blockbuster $12 billion acquisition of Permian Basin private E&P CrownRock in August 2024.

The company aims to repay at least $4.5 billion in debt within 12 months of closing the CrownRock acquisition. Reports that Oxy was shopping a D-J minerals package of up to $1 billion first surfaced in February at the 2025 NAPE Summit.  

Elk said the assets have a mix of current production, DUCs and undeveloped upside, expanding Elk Range’s presence in the D-J and aligning with the company’s royalty acquisition strategy, according to the press release.

Chevron Corp. and Civitas Resources Inc. are operators on the acreage, Elk Range said.

"The DJ Basin presents some of the best operator economics in the U.S., and this acquisition positions us to capitalize on both near-term cash flow and long-term development potential," Elk Range Royalties CEO Charlie Shufeldt said.

Oxy has already made progress on its near-term divestiture goals, including a sale last year of its Barilla Draw assets in the southern Delaware Basin to Permian Resources for about $818 million.

Company affiliates also sold 19.5 million common units of Western Midstream Partners for $700 million last summer.

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Elk Range also announced the launch of Elk Range Royalties III with its partner NGP Energy Capital Management. The newly-formed company holds significant dry powder and will continue to seek out minerals and royalties acquisition opportunities, Elk said in the press release.

Elk Range Royalties has deployed over $1.2 billion in capital for acquisitions since launching in 2020. Earlier this year, Elk Range bought assets in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale from Newton Financial Corp., Concord Oil Co. and Mission Oil Co.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Holland & Knight LLP served as legal counsel to Elk Range. Wells Fargo and CIBC Capital Markets served as financial advisers to Occidental; White & Case LLP and Holland & Hart LLP served as legal counsel to Occidental.

JPMorgan Bank served as lead arranger on the new credit facilities supporting the transaction. Texas Capital served as lead arranger on the upsize of the Elk Range Royalties II LP credit facility.

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