Baytex

Calgary-based competitors Baytex Energy Corp. and Raging River Exploration Inc. agreed Monday to merge in a transaction estimated to be worth close to C$5 billion (US$3.78 billion) to create an onshore producer with holdings in Western Canada and South Texas.

Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. plans to spend about 70% of its 2017 capital budget in the Eagle Ford Shale while it also resumes drilling in Canada, the company said Monday.

Calgary-based Baytex Energy Corp. is buying out Eagle Ford Shale player Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. of Perth, Australia in a cash and debt deal worth C$2.6 billion (US$2.36 billion).

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. unit Bakken Hunter LLC has agreed to acquire Williston Basin properties from an affiliate of Baytex Energy Corp. for $311 million in cash. The company also said Wednesday it is trimming spending in Appalachia because of low natural gas prices.

Dominion has closed the sale of its Canadian natural gas and oil exploration and production (E&P) operations to Canadian-based Paramount Energy Trust and Baytex Energy Trust. The Canadian operations were sold to the trusts in May (see NGI, June 4). The closing price was US$624 million, based on currency exchange rates on Monday. At the end of 2006, the Western Canada operations included 267 Bcfe of proved natural gas and oil reserves, with average production of 60 MMcfe/d. Dominion is in the process of selling almost all of its E&P operations as it refocuses on the power generation and energy distribution, transmission, storage and retail businesses. In early June, Dominion made a deal to sell nearly all of its U.S. onshore E&P properties in a two-way transaction with Loews Corp. and XTO Energy Corp. for $6.5 billion (see NGI, June 11). In late April, the company sold its offshore E&P business to a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni SpA for $4.76 billion. Only Dominion’s Midcontinent properties remain to be sold, and that process is expected to begin in July and be completed by the end of the year. Dominion plans to retain its Appalachian Basin operations, which include 1 Tcfe of proved reserves. The operations are considered lower-risk and a strategic fit with the company’s gas gathering, pipeline and storage systems.

Dominion has closed the sale of its Canadian natural gas and oil exploration and production (E&P) operations to Canadian-based Paramount Energy Trust and Baytex Energy Trust.