Whiting (WLL) Signs $271M Deal to Buy Williston Basin Assets
Whiting Petroleum Corporation WLL entered an agreement to purchase oil and gas-producing assets in the Williston basin of North Dakota.
The company is acquiring the Williston basin assets from a private company for a total cash consideration of $271 million. The assets involve 8,752 net acres, with net daily production of 4,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), of which 80% comprises oil. It includes five gross/2.3 net drilled and uncompleted wells as well as 61 gross/39.5 net undrilled locations in Mountrail County.
The to-be-acquired assets are adjacent to Whiting’s existing operations in the Sanish field. Hence, the company expects minimal additional general and administrative costs to operate the acreage. The assets are expected to enable Whiting to increase capital efficiency by extending laterals on certain wells when combined with its existing acreage.
In a separate transaction, Whiting will divest its Redtail assets in the Denver-Julesburg basin of Colorado to an undisclosed private entity in a $187-million deal. The deal, which includes the production and midstream assets, covers 67,278 net acres, with daily production of nearly 7,100 Boe/d. Of the total, 51% comprises oil.
The transactions would contribute to a significantly larger drilling inventory in the company’s major Sanish operating area, while divesting assets in Colorado that were not going to compete internally for capital. Whiting expects the agreements to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.
Company Profile & Price Performance
Headquartered in Denver, CO, Whiting is an independent energy company involved in the exploration, development and production of oil and gas properties in the United States.
Shares of the company have outperformed the industry in the past six months. The stock has gained 128.3% compared with the industry’s 46.3% growth.
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Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
The company currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Some other top-ranked players in the energy space are DCP Midstream Partners, LP DCP, Nabors Industries Ltd. NBR and SM Energy Company SM, each currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
DCP Midstream’s earnings for 2021 are expected to increase 37.1% year over year.
Nabors’ earnings for 2021 are expected to rise 27.6% year over year.
SM Energy’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to surge 1,137.1% year over year.
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