Northern Oil and Gas Inc. on Thursday clinched an agreement to acquire producing assets and acreage in the core of the Williston Basin in North Dakota, an area of the Bakken Shale it knows well.

The purchase, for $40 million and six million shares of stock, is with Salt Creek Oil and Gas LLC, a subsidiary of Deutsche Rohstoff AG. Northern’s core focus is the Bakken and Three Forks formation in North Dakota and Montana.

“This acquisition solidifies our position as the natural consolidator of nonoperating working interests in the Williston Basin,” said interim President Brandon Elliott. “It brings with it outstanding future drilling locations and current production, without additional general and administrative costs, demonstrating the scalability of our business model.

“This acquisition shows not only our ability to execute on our long term consolidation strategy but also our ability to execute on accretive deals in the best part of the Bakken fairway.”

February estimated production from the leasehold being acquired was 1,380 boe/d. The purchase Includes stakes in 1,319 net acres that are 100% held-by-production, with average net revenue interest of 86%.

Northern would earn production from 6.5 net wells currently producing, drilling or awaiting completion and an estimated 8.2 net wells of future drilling inventory. Operators of the assets include Hess Corp., Whiting Petroleum Corp., ConocoPhillips and Statoil ASA.

The acquired properties are expected to generate about $19 million of cash flow from operations for Northern this year. The deal is expected to close in about 40 days, with an effective date of Jan. 1.