![: Drilling rigs in the Permian Basin.](/sites/default/files/styles/hart_news_article_image_640/public/image/2024/01/drilling-rigs-permian.jpg?itok=T7OGpUCp)
Drilling rigs in the Permian Basin. (Source: Shutterstock)
Non-operated oil and gas player Ellipsis is expanding its Permian Basin portfolio and adding interests in other U.S. basins.
Dallas-based Ellipsis U.S. Onshore Holdings LLC acquired new non-operated assets in the Permian, the Denver-Julesburg (D-J) Basin in Colorado and the Texas-Louisiana Salt Basin in Louisiana.
The acquired non-op assets include current production of over 6,000 boe/d and approximately 550 gross remaining drilling locations.
Ellipsis forecasts its 2024 production will rise to average over 13,000 boe/d on a pro forma basis. The company’s inventory will grow to more than 1,900 remaining gross locations with the December transaction.
Launched in 2023, Ellipsis is led by managing directors Matt Gentry and Adam Howard; the duo previously founded the Dallas-based E&P Monadnock Resources, which focused on the San Andres reservoir in the Permian’s Central Basin Platform.
“Closing 2023 with our third significant acquisition marks a major milestone for our company,” Gentry and Howard said in a news release. “We are excited to advance our non-operated asset strategy in 2024 with a continued focus on both marketed and off-market opportunities.”
Financial terms of the latest transaction were not disclosed. The company said in a press release it makes “acquisitions exceeding $100 million.”
Ellipsis is backed by Houston-based private equity firm Westlawn Group LLC, which was founded in 2021.
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Delaware dreamin’
Ellipsis was launched to acquire and develop large-scale oil and gas assets—with an initial focus on the Permian’s Delaware Basin, which spans from West Texas and into New Mexico.
The company inked its first deal in the Delaware last year with Fortuna Resources III and SRR Rockies Holdings LLC, affiliates of Houston-based private equity firm North Hudson Resource Partners.
That acquisition included about 4,500 boe/d of production and approximately 250 gross remaining drilling locations.
Ellipsis announced a second deal in the Delaware last fall, bolting on 3,000 net acres, average production of more than 3,000 boe/d and 900 incremental gross remaining locations.
The firm’s latest transaction gives Ellipsis greater Delaware depth but also expands the company’s footprint into the D-J Basin and the Haynesville-Bossier shale play, the company said.
And Ellipsis plans to keep its ear to the ground on accretive M&A entering 2024.
“We would encourage potential operating partners and those with non-operated assets to reach out to our team as we continue to deploy significant capital with Westlawn’s support and financial backing,” Gentry and Howard said.
Ellipsis was represented by McDermott Will & Emery as legal counsel during the latest transaction.
Late last year, Westlawn announced launching Westlawn Americas Offshore LLC (WAO) to focus on acquiring and developing deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets.
WAO launched after the acquisition of multiple deepwater GoM assets, which included production that averages more than 10,000 boe/d.
WAO currently owns working interest positions in the Zephyrus discovery, the Winterfell development, and the producing Spruance, Abilene, Who Dat and Dome Patrol fields.
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