Liberty Resources II LLC and Emerald Oil Inc. (NYSE: EOX) announced Aug. 4 that the Denver-based companies had entered an agreement to trade acreage in North Dakota's Williston Basin. The transaction is valued at $110 million.

Liberty will exchange about 31,500 non-core acres in McKenzie County and $78.4 million in cash. In exchange, the company will receive 4,175 net acres in Williams County, which will add an estimated 30 operated drilling locations to its current portfolio.

Emerald will gain about 400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) of current net production through the deal. The acreage is highly contiguous to its Low Rider and Lewis & Clark operating areas. About 95% of the acreage is HBP and 75% is operated.

The acreage has 2 million boe of proved reserves and a PV-10 value of $51.5 million. The acquisition consists of 157 drilling locations—72 of which are in Low Rider and 85 in Lewis & Clark.

"The transaction with Liberty Resources II further solidifies our strategic position in both our Low Rider and Lewis & Clark focus areas, bringing our net acreage position in this core operating area to more than 108,000 net acres," said McAndrew Rudisill, Emerald CEO, in a statement. "This deal allows us to reduce our projected land budget for 2015 while keeping our current 2014 drilling and completion constant due to nearly all of the acquired acreage being HBP."

The transaction is expected to close early September with an effective date of May 1.