Texegy signs deal to lease Austin Chalk acreage in US to Equinor

Texegy has reached agreements to lease a portion of its Austin Chalk minerals to Equinor Louisiana Properties, a subsidiary of Norwegian energy firm Equinor.

Under the terms of the agreement, Equinor will assume operatorship of a significant portion of Texegy’s Austin Chalk assets in the Burr Ferry field in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, US.

Established in 2014, Texegy has been focused on acquiring and developing assets in Texas and Louisiana, with a total acreage position of more than 100,000 acres.

The company’s asset portfolio includes Burr Ferry, South Bearhead Creek fields in Louisiana, and AWP and Raccoon Bend fields in McMullen and Austin counties, respectively, in Texas.

Texegy co-founder Sherif Wadood said: “This asset is unique – not only is it a part of the well-proven Brookland field, but it also has wells that have produced in excess of one million barrels of oil equivalent per well without the advantage of modern completions.

“We look forward to working together with Equinor to not only maximise the value of their leasehold interests but also our retained royalty interest.”

Texegy CEO and co-founder Rajan Ahuja noted that Equinor will shoot seismic and run geological/petrophysical analyses in pursuit of a long-term development plan on the leases.

Ahuja said: “The area has already attracted a variety of operator classes from large-cap public companies to small private equity backed teams, all of which are impressed by the same attractive attributes – significant proven reserves in place that have yet to be exploited via modern drilling and completion techniques.”

According to data available with Department of Natural Resources, Louisiana, the Austin Chalk is a prolific oil producer with significant associated casinghead gas production, with cumulative production of 54.9 million barrels of oil and 246 billion cubic feet of gas.