2009-04-14-2009-03-31-2009-05-07

Acquired 3,122 acres in Montrail Co., ND, in Williston Basin.

An undisclosed buyer has closed its acquisition of interests in the Williston Basin of North Dakota from Brigham Exploration Co., Austin, Texas, (NasdaqGS: BEXP) for $6 million. The sale is the first of several packages offered involving various interests in advance of a pending borrowing-base review. The assets included approximately 3,122 net acres in Montrail County. The effective date is March 1. Brigham chairman, president and chief executive Bud Brigham says, "The execution of the agreement represents the completion of the first step in the process we outlined in the fourth-quarter conference call to generate additional liquidity so as to be in position to take advantage of an improving operating environment." Gene Shepherd, Brigham executive vice president and CFO, says, "We continue to evaluate the potential sale of our nonoperated Mountrail County acreage in the Parshall, Austin and Sanish fields and the potential sale of a portion of our leasehold in our remaining Williston Basin acreage." Brigham is marketing interests in 7,715 acres in Montrail County with an estimated 19 million barrels of oil equivalent of net Bakken reserve potential, and a 50% working interest in a portion of its 301,000 acres in the Williston Basin. In mid March, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit rating on Brigham to "CCC+" from "B-," with the outlook developing. S&P credit analyst Amy Eddy said, "The downgrade reflects our concerns about Brigham's liquidity given that Brigham fully drew down its $145-million borrowing-based revolving line of credit at year-end 2008." The next borrowing base redetermination is scheduled for April. "We are concerned that Brigham's facility could be reduced," she said. "Any reduction to this facility could quickly impair the company's liquidity. As of March 10, the company had approximately $33 million of cash. Although the company is pursuing asset sales, which could enhance the company's liquidity position, given the uncertainty surrounding timing and proceeds, this is not currently factored into the rating."