Paramount Resources Ltd. has agreed to acquire Calgary-based junior independent ProspEx Resources Ltd., the companies said Friday. Under the agreement, ProspEx shareholders may elect to receive either C$2.40 in cash or 0.07162 of a Paramount Class A common share per ProspEx share, subject to pro ration, such that 2,000,000 Paramount shares will be issued. The transaction values ProspEx at $186 million, including net debt and transaction costs. ProspEx, which was formed in 2004 by the reorganization of Esprit Exploration Ltd. (see Daily GPI, Oct. 5, 2004), owns rights to 90,000 net undeveloped acres in West Central Alberta and the Deep Basin. Assuming approval by regulators and ProspEx shareholders, the deal is expected to be completed by the end of May. The ProspEx board has approved the deal and will recommend that shareholders approve it as well, the company said.
Tag / Independent
SubscribeIndependent
Articles from Independent
People
The CEO at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Yakout Mansour, announced Tuesday that he plans to retire June 1, the date of the 40th anniversary of the start of his electric industry career. Mansour will leave having led the state grid operator through several long-sought milestones, such as the launch of the CAISO-redesigned market in 2009, Market Redesign Technology Upgrade (MRTU), which struggled for years to get under way. During Mansour’s six years heading the grid operator it has studied and approved $9.5 billion in transmission expansion projects, and concluded that there is now adequate transmission infrastructure in place or being built to support the state’s new renewable energy goal of 33% by 2020. Mansour said he feels that in his tenure he has helped “restore confidence in California’s wholesale energy market” that was badly tattered in the 2000-2001 wholesale energy market meltdown in the West. A CAISO oversight board member, Bob Foster, called Mansour “hugely successful” in lowering power costs and the costs at the grid operator.
Industry Brief
Houston-based independent Lucas Energy Inc. has entered a joint venture with Marathon Oil (East Texas) LP, a unit of Marathon Oil Corp., to develop the Eagle Ford and Buda formations in Wilson County, TX. Marathon Oil has acquired 50% of the leasehold interest rights, representing about 1,000 net acres (below the base of the Austin Chalk formation) held by Lucas in a majority of Lucas’ leases in Wilson County. Marathon Oil will be the operator, but Lucas will still own and operate rights above the Eagle Ford, primarily in the Austin Chalk, Lucas said. Lucas has a variety of working interests in Wilson County, which is south of San Antonio, ranging from 20% up to 100%. The Austin Chalk formation (and above), the current well bores and equipment, and the current production from the Austin Chalk and above are not included in the Marathon transaction. Financial details were not disclosed.
Pickens: NAT GAS Act Will Pass This Year
Independent oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens said last week he was heartened by President Obama’s remarks on energy security and predicted the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (NAT GAS Act) would pass Congress with strong bipartisan support and be signed into law by Obama by year-end.
Pickens Predicts NAT GAS Act Passage This Year
Independent oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens said Wednesday he was heartened by President Obama’s remarks on energy security and predicted the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (NAT GAS Act) would pass Congress with strong bipartisan support and be signed into law by Obama by year-end.
Industry Brief
Clayton Williams Energy Inc. (CWEI), an independent energy company based in Midland, TX, has entered into an agreement with Chesapeake Exploration LLC in the Delaware Basin oil play. Under the terms of the agreement, CWEI can earn 75% interest in leases held by Chesapeake on about 75,000 net acres in southern Reeves County, TX. CWEI will drill at least 20 earning wells in the first year and have an option to drill an additional 20 wells per year during the next four years to earn all of Chesapeake’s acreage. CWEI will also carry Chesapeake for one-quarter of the costs in earning wells, which will earn CWEI a 75% interest in 640 net acres. Subsequent wells in an earned area will be drilled on a heads-up basis. CWEI will receive credit towards its annual drilling obligations for drilling more than 20 earning wells in any year.
Task Force: Shales, Price Stability Keys to Growing Gas Role
Domestic natural gas — particularly that from shales — is the fix for a host of problems, including the need for national energy security and measures to address pollution, as well as volatile energy prices, a task force formed last year said in a report released Monday.
Dynegy Indicates Bankruptcy May Be Necessary
With an interim CEO and the report Tuesday that it spilled more red ink last year, Houston-based independent power producer Dynegy Inc. warned Wednesday in a 10-K Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it may file for bankruptcy if it doesn’t renegotiate new terms with its creditors. In the meantime, four new directors joined the Dynegy board on Wednesday.
Industry Advocate Calls Barnett Report a ‘Hoax’
Board members of the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) are mulling a report they received Tuesday that recommends significant policy changes for gas drilling near schools and are expected to discuss the items early next month. However, the executive director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council (BSEEC) told NGI’s Shale Daily the document they are holding is essentially “a hoax.”
EOG Continues Shift to NGLs and Oil
EOG Resources Inc. has such faith in its shift from a natural gas-weighted producer to one more weighted to natural gas liquids (NGL) and oil that it sees the traditional production growth yardstick almost obsolete, according to CEO Mark Papa.
