Halcon Resources Corp. on Monday said it is acquiring a shelf of oil-weighted producing and undeveloped properties in the Williston Basin in a cash-and-equity transaction with Petro-Hunt LLC worth $1.45 billion.

The Williston Basin assets, which are 88% weighted to oil, include around 81,000 net acres, 95% of which are operated, that are prospective for the Bakken and Three Forks formations. The acreage, which now has five rigs in operation, is primarily in North Dakota’s Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie and Dunn counties. Current average net production is in excess of 10,500 boe/d.

Based on third-party estimates, total proved reserves are 42.4 million boe; the internally estimated resource potential is more than 100 million boe. On a pro forma basis Halcon has more than 135,000 net acres in the Williston Basin and company-wide current average net production is about 26,500 boe/d.

Halcon CEO Floyd Wilson said the transaction “is consistent with our strategy of building an oil company with a multi-year drilling inventory in several liquids-rich basins. The assets we are acquiring are located in what is arguably the most attractive oil producing basin in the Lower 48, on a risk adjusted basis.”

Wilson led Petrohawk Energy Corp. until it was bought last year by BHP Billiton (see Shale Daily, Aug. 22, 2011). He promptly formed Halcon and with a group of investors over the past year has built an inventory of oil-weighted properties in the U.S. onshore by buying out some small caps and purchasing leaseholds outright (see Shale Daily, Aug. 24; Aug. 23; April 26; Dec. 23, 2011). Earlier this month Halcon also was the heretofore unidentified buyer of Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. acreage in the Utica Shale (see Shale Daily, Oct. 17).

Outside of the Williston Basin’s Bakken Shale, Halcon operates in the Eagle Ford Shale’s Woodbine and Austin Chalk formations, and the Midway/Navarro play in Texas; the Utica/Point Pleasant Shale in Pennsylvania and Ohio; the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in Louisiana; and Oklahoma’s Mississippi Lime.

The latest transaction, noted Wilson, improves the company’s “leverage profile” and increases estimated proved reserves on a pro forma basis by more than 58% to about 115 million boe, 79% of which is liquids.

Halcon has working interests in about 55,000 net acres prospective in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in Mountrail, McKenzie and Williams counties of North Dakota, and Richland and Roosevelt counties of Montana. The company earlier this month announced plans to increase its acreage to a target of 125,000 acres through leases, trades or other acquisitions.

Twenty-nine wells are producing in the Bakken play,with the two most recently completed wells averaging over the first 10 days 543 boe/d and 610 boe/d. Three other wells are being drilled, while two are being completed and four are awaiting completion. Three drilling rigs are to operate through this year in the Williston, and the company also plans to spud 12-16 horizontal wells on acreage in which it holds a one-third stake.

“The track record of Halcon’s management team speaks for itself, and we are confident they will do a great job of developing these solid assets,” said Petro-Hunt President Bruce W. Hunt. Privately held Petro-Hunt and affiliates trace their oil heritage to legendary wildcatter H.L. Hunt.

“Petro-Hunt has a long history of operating oil and gas properties in the Williston Basin,” said Hunt. “We will continue to operate production of approximately 24,000 boe/d and develop our 600,000-plus acres of oil and gas leasehold in the Williston Basin with the full attention of our existing staff.”

To help pay for the Williston purchase, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, agreed to invest $300 million in Halcon to secure some of its common stock for $7.16/share.

Halcon secured financing commitments from Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Barclays under which the borrowing base would be increased to $850 million; the banks agreed to provide a $500 million bridge loan commitment.

Halcon’s board unanimously approved the transaction, including listing the common stock to be issued in the transaction on the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction has an effective date of June 1, 2012, and Halcon expects to complete the deal by the end of the year.