An affiliate of Jericho Oil Corp. has clinched its fifth deal since early 2015 to add acreage in Oklahoma, this time with EnerVest Ltd.

The Vancouver, BC-based producer, which primarily explores for oil and gas in the unconventional plays of Kansas and Oklahoma, said Eagle Road Oil LLC struck a $3.95 million ($1.98 million net) definitive agreement with an affiliate of EnerVest Ltd. to acquire producing wells and leaseholds in Central Oklahoma. Average net production in 1Q2016 was 225 boe/d, 77% weighted to liquids and 23% to natural gas.

“We continue to take advantage of the current depressed marketplace in order to set up Jericho Oil’s platform to be ‘the’ rate of change story as oil prices recover over the next 12-24 months,” said Jericho’s Ryan Breen, who directs corporate development.

The current asset/disposition valuations for assets “in out-of-favor basins are largely underpinned by current low-oil price driven cash flows, allowing the company to acquire free development upside optionality which, over time, should drive a step change in cash flow growth.”

The junior producer began operations in 2014, and to date it has completed seven transactions. Jericho has drilled 150-plus vertical wells in two core areas of operation totaling 50,000 acres and 650 boe/d gross, 85% oil. The asset package sold by EnerVest is in an area complementary to its existing operations and represents its fifth acquisition within Central and Northeast Oklahoma since January 2015.

The latest purchase extends across Noble, Pawnee, Payne and Garfield counties, in the heart of Oklahoma’s stacked reservoirs, with all of the acquired output now producing primarily from the Woodford Shale and Mississippian Lime formations.

Under terms of the deal, Eagle Road is acquiring a 91% average working interest and assuming operatorship of 62 operated wells — 60 horizontals and two verticals. The transaction includes 31,200 net acres, 77% held by production, along with 19 nonoperated wells. Also included are five saltwater disposal wells tied into a 60-mile pipeline system, 100% owned, and 30 identified horizontal infill drilling locations.

In addition, there are 41 shut-in wells that Jericho plans to target through workovers, clean-outs and re-fractures, as well as 20 identified horizontal infill drilling locations.

The assets come with “significant in-place infrastructure ready-made for a future re-work and drilling program as commodity prices recover,” and the acquisition, said Breen, “demonstrates our commitment to acquiring high-quality assets that have generally fallen out of favor as larger institutions retrench to their core assets.”

Houston-based EnerVest, which is one of the largest privately held onshore exploration and production companies, was built under a buy-enhance-sell model. In 2006 it created publicly traded EV Energy Partners to purchase properties on the open market in competitive bids, participate in joint acquisitions with EnerVest, and/or purchase assets directly from its parent.