Whiting Petroleum Corp., Denver, entered into two separate agreements to acquire non-operated oil and gas assets in the Williston basin of North Dakota from unnamed sellers.
The assets are being acquired from two private companies for total cash consideration of $273 million, before closing adjustments. The assets are in Mountrail County, ND, and increase the average operated working interest to 74% from 61% throughout Whiting’s Sanish field, impacting many of the drilling units included in the company’s current 2022 development program.
The assets include 14,563 net acres, 4 gross / 0.2 net drilled and uncompleted well interests, and 277 gross / 32 net undrilled locations. Whiting expects to develop the undeveloped locations near term. The assets should contribute about 4,500 boe/d (67% oil) at closing.
The smaller transaction closed in fourth-quarter 2021, and the larger acquisition is scheduled to close first-quarter 2022.
The company last year acquired Williston basin assets in Mountrail County, ND, from an unnamed private company for total $271 million (OGJ Online, July 22, 2021).
Outlook
Whiting’s 2022 capital plan includes operating two drilling rigs and one completion crew in the Williston basin for most of the year. The 2022 budget was designed with higher working interests and slightly greater activity. A delay on a five-well pad in January will impact the timing of production until later in the year. While Whiting has shifted operations to Sanish field, the company’s continued focus on sustainability through increasing its high gas capture percentage will result in production volumes not entirely replacing those lost by the delay, the company said. The 2022 plan is to reinvest about 40% of the expected EBITDA for the period, consistent with the prior year.
The rigs will operate in Mountrail, McKenzie, and Williams Counties, ND. Whiting plans to drill additional three-mile laterals further west in McKenzie County, ND during the year, the company said.