El Paso closes on $750M in divestitures

El Paso closes on $750M in divestitures

El Paso Corp. has closed on the sale of certain Gulf of Mexico, onshore, and Texas Gulf coast properties. In total, El Paso contracted for the sale of an estimated 309 bcfe of proved reserves for $752 million in four transactions. The Gulf of Mexico transaction also included the assumption by the purchaser of future plugging and abandonment liabilities associated with those properties, which were reflected on El Paso’s balance sheet as asset retirement of $93 million. Final cash proceeds are expected to be near $650 million and will be used for the reduction of debt incurred for the acquisition of Peoples Energy Production Co. in September 2007. Jefferies Randall & Dewey acted as financial advisor to El Paso.

TXCO Resources, Anadarko sign exploration agreement

TXCO Resources Inc. has signed an agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. that gives rights to drill the Pearsall and Eagleford shale gas resource plays on Anadarko’s 349,000 gross acres in the Maverick basin of Southwest Texas. In addition, TXCO has entered into an agreement with St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. whereby St. Mary will participate with TXCO in the development of the Anadarko acreage. TXCO and St. Mary can earn interests by drilling four horizontal wells in the Pearsall and/or Eagleford formations by year-end 2008 with the option to extend the drilling program through year-end 2013, at which time TXCO and St. Mary could earn as much as a 50% working interest. After the wells are completed, Anadarko would retain a 50% carried working interest and serve as operator. TXCO will operate the drilling and completing of the four 2008 wells, sharing costs equally with St. Mary.

Riverstone invests in Shelter Bay Energy

Riverstone Holdings LLC, a private equity firm focused on the energy sector, will provide capital to fund the growth of Shelter Bay Energy Inc., a privately-held exploration and production company focused in the Bakken light oil play in southeast Saskatchewan. The investment is part of Shelter Bay’s plans to raise C$625 million. Riverstone is joined by Kelso & Co., Crescent Point Energy Trust, Goldman Sachs, and Trafelet & Co. Terms were not disclosed. Shelter Bay, based in Calgary, Alberta, was recently formed by Crescent Point Energy Trust, a publicly-traded Canadian income trust. Following the investment, Shelter Bay will acquire Landex Petroleum Corp., an oil and gas production company with operations and assets in southeast Saskatchewan.

Southwestern Energy sells $519M in assets to XTO Energy

Southwestern Energy Co.’s wholly-owned subsidiary has agreed to sell certain oil and gas leases, wells, and gathering equipment to XTO Energy Inc. for roughly $519.6 million in cash. The 55,631 net acres are located in the Fayetteville Shale play. The transaction is scheduled to close in the second quarter of 2008. Merrill Lynch is Southwestern’s sole financial advisor in connection with the transaction.

Forest Oil acquires Ark-La-Tx properties

Forest has entered into a definitive agreement with a private entity to acquire producing assets including approximately 69,000 gross acres primarily in its core Ark-La-Tex area. Forest attributes estimated proved reserves of 110 bcfe (45% proved developed) to the properties which produced an average of nearly 13 MMcfe/d in 2007. Forest will pay approximately $285 million cash for the assets and intends to fund the acquisition using its credit facility and cash on hand.

Dynamic Offshore completes acquisition of SPN Resources

Dynamic Offshore Resources LLC, a Houston-based oil and gas company created to acquire and develop producing properties in the Gulf of Mexico, and its affiliate, Moreno Group Holdings LLC, have closed the transaction to purchase a combined 75% interest in SPN Resources LLC for $165 million. SPN Resources was the oil and gas subsidiary of Superior Energy Services Inc., which will retain an effective 25% interest in SPN Resources. The acquired properties include roughly 180 producing wells with current net daily production of nearly 11,000 boe/d in 31 offshore blocks covering nearly 100,000 net acres. Dynamic Offshore has also entered into a contract with Superior Energy Services, whereby Superior Energy will provide all well abandonment and platform decommissioning services at fixed prices.

Ivanhoe Energy initiates restructuring, names Friedland CEO

Robert Friedland has been named executive chairman and CEO of Ivanhoe Energy Inc. effective May 29. The company is undergoing a restructuring in preparation for the implementation of multiple, full-scale, commercial HTL heavy-oil projects in Canada and internationally. Robert Abboud will continue to serve as co-chairman. Two new subsidiaries will be established, one for Latin America and one for the Middle East and North Africa. David Martin will lead the subsidiary for Latin America as chairman and CEO, and Leon Daniel will lead the subsidiary for the Middle East and North Africa as chairman and CEO. A number of directors will retire to assume directorships in the subsidiary companies. The number of directors is expected to be reduced from 12 to seven.

Bankers Petroleum looks to invest C$370M to raise Albanian production

Bankers Petroleum Ltd. has set a three-year plan for its Albanian assets as well as a proposed restructuring for its US subsidiary Bankers Petroleum (US) Inc. In March the company completed an addendum to development plan that outlined the technical, capital, and production profiles for the Patos Marinza field. Under the addendum, Bankers plans to access additional reserves through the application of infill vertical and horizontal drilling, and waterflood and thermal recovery techniques. The addendum is currently awaiting final approval. Regarding the recently acquired Kucova oilfield in Albania, the company will be completing its evaluation and will disclose details of its capital program and reserves assessment by the end of the second quarter. The plan’s total capital investment is estimated to be $370 million and will be primarily funded from existing working capital and future cash flow.

GE Unit, Union Gas invest $115M to acquire reserves, plan $29M in field development

GE Energy Financial Services has formed a partnership with a Union Gas Corp. subsidiary and related investors to acquire oil and gas reserves from two fields in East Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast for $115 million. GE Energy Financial Services is investing $104 million as the 90% limited partner. Union Gas is investing the balance as the 10% general partner and operator. The new alliance, Union Gas Production Partners LP, plans to invest an additional $29 million to develop and produce proved reserves over the next two years.

Imperial signs $600M standby equity commitment

Imperial Energy has entered into an agreement with Hoare Govett Ltd. and Merrill Lynch International for a standby equity underwriting commitment of up to $600 million. The company is looking to refinance the existing $200 million loan facility which matures in November 2008 and raise money for an extensive 2008 work program which includes major drilling activities, as well as significant infrastructure works and a third pipeline. The cost of the work is estimated at $350 million. In 2009, Imperial’s heavy work program will continue at an estimated cost of $250 million.

Senergy continues on the acquisition trail

Energy consultancy Senergy has joined forces with ISIS Energy Ltd. (ISIS). The marine geotechnology and engineering consultancy was formed in 2005. The newly merged company will be known as Senergy ISIS and will continue to operate from its existing office in Bath, with the Aberdeenshire office moving to a shared office facility with Senergy Floyds in Alford. The three ISIS Energy founding directors Peter Taylor, Mark Finch, and Giles Thompson will continue in their current roles.

Dejour hires Blacker to head US oil, gas operations team

Dejour Enterprises Ltd. has hired Harrison F. Blacker as president and COO of Dejour Energy USA Inc., the company’s wholly-owned US subsidiary. He will also sit on the board of directors. Blacker has over 30 years of expertise managing oil and gas operations with corporations in the US, South America, China, and the Middle East. Most recently he was CEO of China Oman Energy Co. He holds two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree from the University of Florida. Dejour Enterprises Ltd. is a micro cap Canadian company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and monetization of North American energy.

China North East Petroleum closes $15M debt financing

As part of its $15 million debenture financing agreement with Lotusbox Investments Ltd., China North East Petroleum Holdings Ltd., certain post-closing conditions have been met allowing for the release of $13.25 million from escrow. These proceeds plus the initial funding of $1.75 million completes the company’s $15 million financing with Lotusbox, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harmony Investment Fund Ltd. The company intends to use nearly US$10 million to finance a portion of the cost for the drilling of 100 new wells within its four Jilin-based oilfields that are under lease from PetroChina.

MegaWest begins EOR project in Missouri

MegaWest Energy Corp., an independent oil and gas company specializing in non-conventional oil and gas projects with a focus on North American heavy oil, has started steam injection and production operations at its Deerfield, Mo. project by its wholly-owned subsidiary, MegaWest Energy Missouri Corp. Total cost to construct and commission the facility and wells is roughly $3.6 million.

Berry Petroleum relocates headquarters to Denver

Berry Petroleum Co. will relocate its corporate headquarters to Denver from Bakersfield, Calif. this summer. Robert F. Heinemann, president and CEO, stated, “Denver is a well recognized business center for energy companies, and we desire to be located in an area that presents more growth opportunities for Berry.” Berry will maintain a regional office at its current Bakersfield location that will continue to support its heavy oil asset teams. Berry expects fewer than 15 of its nearly 150 California employees to be involved in the relocation. Berry’s current Denver employees will be transferred to the new office from the existing premises and the company anticipates the addition of 25 employees in the Denver office resulting from the relocation, including transfers.

Triton Group acquires DPS

Aberdeen-based Dynamic Positioning Services Ltd. (DPS) has been acquired by Triton Group Holdings for an undisclosed sum. DPS is involved in the business of selling, renting, and repairing marine electronic equipment. Triton Group Holdings is backed by Houston private equity firm SCF Partners and supported by RBS Structured Finance.

BJ Services moves to acquire Innicor Subsurface Technologies

Houston-based BJ Services Co. has signed a pre-acquisition agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Innicor Subsurface Technologies Inc. Innicor is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and is a designer, manufacturer, and provider of tools and equipment utilized in the completion and production phases of oil and gas well development in Canada and select international markets. BJ Services will offer to purchase the outstanding shares of Innicor for a purchase price of CA$2.50 in cash per share, valuing the proposed transaction at approximately US$55 million, including outstanding debt and capital lease obligations. The transaction is expected to be completed during BJ Services’ third fiscal quarter.

Acergy SA wins StatoilHydro contract awards in North Sea

Acergy SA has been awarded two contracts valued at nearly $60 million from StatoilHydro on behalf of the Gjøa and Morvin licenses. The contract for the Gjøa project is for the pre-installation of static and dynamic umbilicals and flexible risers in 2009 and hook-up of risers to the Gjøa platform in 2010. The contract for the Morvin project is for the installation of a flexible riser, a Direct Electrical Heating riser, a dynamic umbilical at Åsgard B and two static umbilicals from Morvin to Åsgard. All work will be completed in 2009.

Syntroleum transfers to NASDAQ Capital Market

Syntroleum Corp. has transferred the listing of the company’s common stock from The NASDAQ Global Market to The NASDAQ Capital Market. Stocks will trade under the company’s existing symbol, SYNM. The company was previously notified by NASDAQ that it did not satisfy the market value of listed securities requirement for continued listing on The NASDAQ Global Market.

DeepFlex completes $33M series C funding

Houston-based DeepFlex Inc., the world’s only manufacturer of flexible, unbonded, non-metallic composite pipe for use in deepwater and ultra deepwater oil and gas production, has sold $33 million of Series C Preferred Stock. New investors in the company include Nomura Private Equity Investment LP, Heico Acquisitions, Promon International, as well as several members of the senior management team. Existing investors contributing to the C round include Altira Group, Energy Ventures, and CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures.

Heritage Oil to list on LSE, delist from TSE

Heritage Oil Ltd. has applied to list the ordinary shares of Heritage Jersey and a new class of exchangeable shares of Heritage on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange plc. Heritage Jersey will be the parent company of Heritage. Heritage intends to delist its existing common shares from the Toronto Stock Exchange and at the same time, obtain a listing for the Exchangeable Shares on the TSX and the Official List.

Rock Energy Resources files for AMEX listing

Houston-based Rock Energy Resources Inc., a producer engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas, has filed an application for approval to trade its common stock on the American Stock Exchange. The company has selected Cohen Specialists LLC as its specialist firm. The company seeks out untapped, onshore natural gas and crude oil resources using 3D technologies. Rock Energy Resources currently produces and sells natural gas and crude oil from two locations: the Wilcox trend in Colorado County, Tex., and the Monterey Formation in Santa Barbara County, Calif.

WorleyParsons to acquire INTEC Engineering from Heerema Group

WorleyParsons will acquire Heerema Group’s INTEC Engineering BV division, an international deepwater and arctic engineering and project services company. The agreement also provides for an ongoing business relationship whereby WorleyParsons and INTEC can provide engineering services to the Heerema Group.