Portfolio

Southwestern Energy Co. on Wednesday agreed to sell EXCO Resources Inc. a piece of its East Texas oil and natural gas portfolio for close $355 million.

Williams Cos., which has been building its portfolio in the Marcellus Shale, agreed Tuesday to pay $501 million in cash to add 42,000 net acres to its leasehold in Susquehanna County, PA. The Tulsa-based producer also is leasing an additional 8,000 net acres in the state in another “attractive” area.

Quicksilver Resources Inc., whose natural gas portfolio is spread across North America, said Monday it would reduce its 2010 capital program “to reflect reduced planned drilling and completion activities” in the Barnett Shale.

Devon Energy Corp.’s decision to sell all of its Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and overseas assets may have come as a surprise to many, but most energy analysts appeared in favor of the plan, calling it a “bold move” that proves the company’s belief in the future of natural gas.

Houston-based Edge Petroleum Corp., whose natural gas-weighted portfolio extends from the Gulf Coast to the Permian Basin and to the Fayetteville Shale, on Friday filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection. The company plans to auction “substantially all” of its assets.

Houston-based Edge Petroleum Corp., whose natural gas-weighted portfolio extends from the Gulf Coast to the Permian Basin and to the Fayetteville Shale, on Friday filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection. The company plans to auction “substantially all” of its assets.

Dallas-based Crosstex Energy LP has completed the sale of its natural gas gathering assets in Mississippi, Alabama and South Texas for $220 million to Southcross Energy LLC, a Dallas-based portfolio company of Charlesbank Capital Partners focused on gas transportation and processing. The Mississippi and Alabama systems consist of approximately 780 miles of intrastate gathering and transmission pipelines with throughput capacity of about 185,000 MMBtu/d. The South Texas system consists of approximately 1,400 miles of intrastate gathering and transmission pipelines with throughput capacity of about 600,000 MMBtu/d and two processing facilities with a total capacity of approximately 195,000 MMBtu/d. Crosstex said it will use the net proceeds from the transaction to repay approximately $212 million of its outstanding debt, which will satisfy the targets for debt reductions in September and December established in the partnership’s recent amendments to its debt facilities. Crosstex agreed to sell the assets to Southcross in June (see Daily GPI, June 11).

As California lawmakers grapple with different legislative proposals to codify the state’s 33% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal for 2020, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told lawmakers he won’t sign any bills that don’t unshackle the retail electricity market by repealing restrictions imposed during the 2000-2001 wholesale energy market crisis. Schwarzenegger wants all residential and core customers to pay equally for the new RPS goal and for limited retail customer choice to be reopened.

Declaring federally designated energy corridors in 11 western states “coal friendly” and in direct opposition to nine states’ renewable portfolio standards (RPS), 14 environmental groups and San Miguel County, CO, last week filed a lawsuit challenging the Bush-era designations.