Earthstone Energy to sell Bakken assets in US

Earthstone Energy has signed an agreement to divest its Bakken assets in the US to an undisclosed buyer in a bid to focus on its Midland Basin assets.

The deal is valued at around $27m and is anticipated to complete by the end of this year.

Earthstone Energy corporate development and engineering executive vice-president Robert Anderson said: “The sale of our Bakken assets, which are non-operated, represents a further step in Earthstone’s continued shift in emphasis to being primarily a Midland Basin focused operator.

“Over the past 18 months, we have established a position in the Midland Basin that stands at approximately 27,000 net acres and approximately 7,000 barrels of oil per day (boepd).

“The divestiture of our Bakken assets allows us to continue focusing our human and capital resources on our highly economic assets in the Midland Basin.”

Within the northern region, the company has 5,900 net core acres predominantly in McKenzie and Dunn Counties of North Dakota that are prospective for the Bakken / Three Forks formation.

The company’s portfolio of assets is mainly concentrated in the Midland Basin of West Texas and the Eagle Ford trend of South Texas.

With respect to the Midland Basin, Earthstone Energy’s operated position comprises 20,700 net acres, with an 87% working interest.

The assets in the core Midland Basin contributed 5,357boepd to Earthstone’s net production in the third quarter of the year.

The closure of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.