The Anschutz Exploration Corp. (AEC) closed the sale of its remaining operated and non-operated producing properties and undeveloped acreage in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota to an undisclosed Canadian oil company for $115 million.
The assets consist of current oil and gas production and undeveloped acres. Bill Miller, president of the privately held company, said “With this sale, AEC has now exited the Williston Basin after a successful Bakken and Mission Canyon program that began in 2004. Our continuing focus is on emerging shale oil plays in the US on AEC leasehold of over one million net acres, located primarily in Texas, Montana, Colorado and New York.”
In December 2010, Anschutz sold its principal Dunn County acreage position in the Williston Basin to Oxy USA for $1.4 billion. The 180,000 net contiguous acres in North Dakota held Bakken production and are prospective in the Three Forks formation. At the time of the transaction, the assets were producing approximately 5,500 boe/d.
Anschutz then sold its Appalachian Basin position in Ohio and Pennsylvania to Chesapeake Energy Corp. for $850 million, and retained its acreage and production in New York.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised AEC on these transactions.
