A unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group and Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) on Wednesday agreed to buy U.S.-based producer Parallel Petroleum LLC in a deal valued at close to $800 million.

Samsung C&T Corp., the trading arm of Samsung Group, agreed to buy 90% of Parallel while KNOC is to purchase the remaining stakes from PLL Holdings LLC, a unit of private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC. Apollo purchased Parallel in 2009 for $495 million (see Daily GPI, Oct. 5, 2009). KNOC said the deal to buy Parallel was worth $771.5 million.

Midland, TX-based Parallel has stakes in eight oil fields and two natural gas fields with total reserves around 68 million boe.

Parallel, which was struggling in 2009 to keep up with drilling partner Chesapeake Energy Corp. in the Barnett Shale, struck a deal early that year that allowed Chesapeake to take care of all of Parallel’s drilling and development commitments in the play through 2016 (see Daily GPI, Feb. 18, 2009).

Under the farmout agreement, for all wells drilled on Parallel’s Barnett Shale leasehold from Nov. 1, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2016, the producer would assign Chesapeake 100% of the leasehold. For each project, Chesapeake would be entitled to receive all revenues from Parallel’s interest until Chesapeake received revenues totaling 150% of the drilling, completion and operating costs incurred to fund the stake. After Jan. 1, 2017, Parallel was to pay all costs and receive all revenues attributed to its stake.

There was no comment on how the previous transaction with Chesapeake would affect the Parallel takeover. Samsung C&T drills for oil and gas around the world, including in the United States, China, Algeria, Oman and Qatar.

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