Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. continued its expansion in the core of Alberta’s Clearwater oil play with a recent agreement to acquire Crestwynd Exploration Ltd., a privately held pure-play Clearwater producer, in a cash-and-stock transaction worth CA$184.7 million.

“The acquisition further establishes Tamarack as a leading operator in the highly economic Clearwater oil play,” Brian Schmidt, president and CEO of Tamarack, commented in a company release on Dec. 15.

The Crestwynd acquisition includes 99,360 net acres and 209 gross (153.7 net) drilling locations plus 9.6 million boe of proved plus probable reserves. The assets are forecast to average production in 2022 of roughly 4,500 boe/d with about 100% oil and NGL weighting.

The company said the transaction, which is expected to close in mid-February, will further establish its position as a leading Clearwater operator and give it the largest position in the southern part of the play at 166,000 net acres.

According to an Enverus research note on Dec. 21, Tamarack has now announced six Clearwater acquisitions since December 2020 with values totaling about C$460 million. However, the firm noted that one of the company’s acquisitions, from Surge Energy, included substantial production from waterflood properties outside the Clearwater play.

“Acquiring high quality assets with significant free funds flow where we can leverage our operational and technical expertise is a core principle of Tamarack’s returns focused strategy,” Schmidt added in the Dec. 15 company release.

Peters & Co. Ltd. and RBC Capital Markets are financial advisers to Tamarack with respect to the acquisition. CIBC Capital Markets and Stifel FirstEnergy are the company’s strategic advisers. Stikeman Elliott LLP is providing it legal counsel and a sustainability linked lending facility also announced Dec. 15. National Bank Financial Inc. is the exclusive financial adviser to Crestwynd and Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP is its legal counsel for the transaction.

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