Berry Corp., Dallas, has completed the acquisition of Macpherson Energy Corp., a privately held Kern County, Cali., operator.
The deal, struck earlier in the year and primarily funded through a $35-million reallocation in Berry’s 2023 capital expenditures, comprised an all-cash purchase price of $70 million, $50 million of which was paid at closing and the remainder of which will be paid in July 2024. The company reduced its full-year exploration and production segment and corporate capital expenditures budget to $68-74 million from $95-105 as part of the deal funding, the company said in a release Sept. 18.
Macpherson’s “high-quality, low decline oil producing properties are a complementary fit with Berry’s existing Kern County portfolio.” said Fernando Araujo, chief executive officer.
In addition to the base production, Araujo, in the company’s second-quarter 2023 earnings update in August, said the company sees “upside for near-term production enhancement and development opportunities.”
Araujo said the company is positioned to be “a consolidator of value creating opportunities in California and other basins with conventional reservoirs.”
Reflecting the MacPherson acquisition and Berry’s results to date, Berry’s 2023 full year guidance has been updated. Average daily production for full-year 2023 has increased to 24,800-25,400 boe/d from 24,000-25,200 boe/d, comprised of about 93% oil, the company said.
In this year’s second quarter, Berry’s average daily production increased to 25,900 boe/d compared with 24,300 boe/d in first-quarter 2023. Company-wide oil production in the quarter was 24,000 b/d, accounting for 93% of total company production, with California production contributing 20,800 boe/d or 80% of total production. Production was nearly 7% higher quarter-over-quarter due to improved base production from optimized steam injection in California, as well as making up for first quarter weather-related production downtime, the company said in its earnings report.
