Linn Energy LLC has agreed to pay $175 million for 19,800 contiguous net acres in East Texas that it said will provide about 24 MMcfe/d of production, weighted 97% to natural gas. The deal is expected to close by May 1.

Included in the acquisition are approximately 136 Bcfe of proved reserves and 430 wells, according to Linn, which said the acreage has multiple identified upside recompletion and infill-drilling opportunities.

“This mature long-life asset has a low decline rate of less than 10% and is expected to provide a steady stream of cash flow,” said Linn CEO Mark E. Ellis. “It also offers an extensive future drilling inventory on a concentrated acreage position that is held by production.”

The deal will be financed with proceeds from borrowings under Linn’s revolving credit facility, the company said.

The deal comes on the heels of Linn’s announcement that it will pay $1.2 billion to acquire BP plc’s natural gas-rich Hugoton Basin properties in Kansas (see Daily GPI, Feb. 28). That agreement, which would bring Linn 600,000 net acres, 2,400 wells and an estimated 730 Bcfe in proved reserves, is expected to close by the end of this month.

Linn, which claims about 4.2 Tcfe of proved reserves, has completed more than $4 billion of acquisitions in a little more than two years.

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