WPX Energy Inc. (WPX) has quickly hit the pavement, selling assets to free up capital for its newly acquired position in the Permian Basin.

WPX Energy said Aug. 31 it has agreed to sell a North Dakota gathering system to a private equity fund managed by the Ares EIF Group, a subsidiary of Ares Management LP (ARES). The transaction is worth about $185 million and is expected to close in 60 days.

The gathering system supports WPX's development in the Van Hook peninsula area in the Williston Basin. The Van Hook facility is an oil, natural gas and water gathering system.

The Tulsa, Okla.-based company is working to quickly reduce debt just two weeks after closing its acquisition of privately held RKI Exploration & Production LLC. The $2.75 billion deal added decades of drilling inventory in the core of the Permian's Delaware Basin.

“We are aggressively moving on our deleveraging plan just as we said we would do,” said Rick Muncrief, WPX president and CEO, in a statement.

In total, the company is targeting up to $1 billion of asset sale to be completed by year-end 2016.

The Van Hook system was one of several midstream assets that WPX identified as potential sale candidates, said Patrick Rigamer, vice president and senior E&P analyst for Global Hunter Securities (GHS). Other possible divestiture targets include the company's Piceance water-treatment and San Juan gathering systems.

“Additional sales will be required to meet WPX’s target for 2015, but we view this sale as an important step in protecting the company’s balance sheet,” Rigamer said in a report.

WPX built the Van Hook system to support its drilling program in the Williston Basin. During the second quarter of 2015 the company produced an average of 22,600 barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil in the Williston Basin, up 20% year-over-year.

The Van Hook system currently gathers about 11,000 bbl/d of oil, about 65,000 cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) of natural gas, and about 5,000 bbl/d of water. The system can be expanded, the release said.

WPX will continue to operate the Van Hook system after closing, as part of the sale agreement.

WPX’s deleveraging plan targets $400- to $500 million in asset sales by year-end 2015 and another $400- to $500 million in 2016.

Other potential divestitures include the sale of additional midstream infrastructure and nonoperated properties. The company is also evaluating creative options to unlock Piceance Basin value, the release said.

Contact the author, Emily Moser, at emoser@hartenergy.com.

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