GE Energy, Vess Team Up For $108 Million Venture In Woodbine, Eagle Ford

Transaction Type
Sellers
Buyers
Announce Date
Post Date
Close Date
Estimated Price
108MM
Description

Formed a JV to acquire and develop 13,000 net acres in the Woodbine and Eagle Ford.

The chemistry must work: GE Energy Financial Services and Vess Oil Corp., of Wichita, Kan., are partners again, this time buying $108 million worth of oil reserves that target the Woodbine and Eagle Ford.

GE and Vess are acquiring some 13,000 net acres and associated Woodbine production from an affiliate of EnerVest Ltd. The assets are located about 20 miles northeast of College Station in Brazos, Madison and Grimes counties.

GE Energy Financial Services, based in Stamford, Conn., invested $77 million for a majority stake and limited partner role. A Vess Oil affiliate acquired the remaining interest and will serve as general partner and operator.

"Our partnership with GE accomplishes our strategic objective of expanding our operations in Brazos County and provides a platform for growth through bolt-on acquisitions in this area," said Barry Hill, CEO of Vess Oil Corp.

The Woodbine-Eagle Ford transaction is the third partnership for the companies. The companies have worked together to acquire reserves in Brazos County, Texas and in Kansas. The new partnership is conducting drilling and completion operations on its first and second Woodbine wells as part of a multi-year continuous drilling program.

A separate Vess Oil affiliate is developing Woodbine reserves in the Kurten Field, adjacent to the newly acquired assets. Vess has operations primarily in Kansas, with growing operations in Texas, Montana and Oklahoma.

GE Energy Financial Services is a unit of GE (NYSE: GE). The units' oil and gas team has provided more than $4 billion in partnership equity for its independent private and public oil and gas partners-operators in the U.S. since 1991. The oil and gas team is active in all major onshore basins and in shallow water Gulf of Mexico. Its 25 partnership investments own interests in more than 3,000 wells that produce an estimated 26,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d).