American Energy to acquire shale assets in major US basins

American Energy Partners will acquire shale oil and gas assets in Texas, Ohio and West Virginia for $4.25bn.

Subsidiary American Energy – Permian Basin said that it will enter Texas’s Permian Basin by acquiring around 63,000 net acres of production leases from Enduring Resources for $2.5bn. The properties in the southern Permian Basin, primarily in Reagan and Irion Counties, Texas are anticipated to have net production of around 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day at closing.

Enduring is currently utilising four rigs to develop the acreage, and American Energy intends to increase operated drilling activity to six to eight rigs by the end of 2015. American Energy aims to drill up to approximately 2,500 gross wells and 1,750 net wells on its acreage in the next ten years.

In a separate transaction, American Energy – Utica will acquire around 27,000 net acres of leasehold in Monroe County, Ohio, from East Resources and an unnamed private firm.

American Energy – Marcellus has signed agreements to acquire around 48,000 net acres of leasehold in Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Tyler and Wetzel Counties, West Virginia, also from East Resources and an unnamed private company.

The properties are estimated to have net production of around 135 million cubic feet equivalent a day at closing.

American Energy Partners intends to capitalise on available opportunities in US onshore unconventional resource plays. The combined acquisition price of the transactions, which are anticipated to be completed in the next 60 days, is $1.75bn.