By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 24 -- Denver independent Patina Oil & Gas Corp. said Wednesday it will acquire private Oklahoma City-based oil company Le Norman Energy Corp. in a $68 million deal. The acquisition will boost Patina's oil production by about 25% and its total production by more than 10%, the company said.
Most of Le Norman's properties are in Oklahoma's Anadarko and Ardmore-Marietta basins. The company holds 88.90 bcfe of proved reserves, split as 12.1 million bbl of oil and 16.4 bcf of gas. Less than half of these properties' reserves are on production, Patina said.
Deal details
Patina said it would finance the acquisition through an existing bank facility and through the issuance of 200,000 common shares.
David D. Le Norman, Le Norman president and founder, will join the acquiring company as senior vice-president, business development.
"This acquisition establishes a sizeable asset base for Patina in Oklahoma and adds to the Midcontinent operations acquired in the Elysium purchase 2 years ago," said Thomas J. Edelman, Patina chairman. Patina operates primarily in Colorado's Wattenberg field.
The acquisition also will add to Patina's asset portfolio a number of infill drilling, secondary recovery, and behind-pipe recompletions in a geographically concentrated area, Edelman said. "While the (acquired) properties are primarily shallow oil fields, they provide significant opportunities for us to apply our expertise in large-scale, low cost operations and drilling developed in Wattenberg," he said.
The transaction is expected to close early next month.
