Bankrupt E&P Trinity River Resource LP agreed to sell its assets, including roughly 165 wells in the Woodbine Sandstone and Austin Chalk, to Zarvona Energy LLC and affiliates.

Houston’s Zarvona Energy will purchase Trinity River’s assets and average production of about 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for $50 million. The sale was approved by a U.S. District Court judge in the Western District of Texas on Sept. 22.

As of September, Trinity River held about 63,000 net acres in the Woodbine/Austin Chalk play in Polk, Tyler and Jasper counties, Texas. The company reported that its production consisted of 43.5% oil and 56.5% rich gas from 27 vertical Woodbine wells and 137 Austin Chalk horizontal wells.

Trinity River’s working interests are primarily operated by BBX Operating LLC, a non-debtor affiliate owned by Border to Border Exploration LLC.

In 2010, Trinity River was formed from a “roll-up of various partnerships that held assets in East Texas,” according to Border to Border. Trinity River was backed by a $150 million credit facility from GE Capital.

Trinity River filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2016 to reorganize.

Trinity River Asset Overview

Court records listed the buyer of Trinity River’s assets as East Chalk Holdings II LLC. The purchase agreement was signed by President Kathryn S. MacAskie, who is also the president and CEO of Zarvona.

MacAskie founded Zarvona Energy in 2010. She has also worked in various roles in the oil and gas industry, including as senior vice president of acquisitions for EV Energy Partners (NASDAQ: EVEP).

In 2011, Zarvona Energy was backed through a joint venture with Salient funds management. The company and its affiliates currently own interests in operated oil and gas fields in West Texas, East Texas and western Oklahoma as well as nonoperated fields.

Since 2015, at least 128 E&Ps have filed for bankruptcy, according to Haynes and Boone LLP. However, year-to-date, only 14 companies have filed for bankruptcy in 2017 compared to 70 in 2016 and 44 in 2015.

Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.

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