Sell

Continuing to focus ever more sharply on liquids-rich and oil projects, Range Resources Corp. has entered into an agreement to sell for $275 million some of its gassier Permian Basin properties in New Mexico and West Texas.

The deal that Chesapeake Energy Corp. made on Monday to sell half its leasehold in the Mississippian Lime was calculated at around $2,500/acre gross, or less than $1,000/acre net, not necessarily the price that the market had been expecting. The lower expected price may be attributed to several things, said analysts: foreign firms getting more savvy about undeveloped leaseholds, the value of the formation, or Chesapeake’s hurry to fix its balance sheet.

Hess Corp. won’t sell its unconventional assets in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Utica shale plays, but it is looking at proposals from a hedge fund that wants a larger stake in the company, Hess officials said during a 4Q2012 earnings call on Wednesday.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has signed an agreement with Sinochem Petroleum USA LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of China’s Sinochem Group, to sell 40% of its interest in 207,000 net acres leased by the Pioneer in the horizontal Wolfcamp Shale in the southern portion of the Spraberry Trend Area Field for $1.7 billion.

Home heating products retailer Dead River Co. plans to sell and supply compressed natural gas (CNG) to commercial and institutional customers in central, northern and eastern Maine from Xpress Natural Gas’ (XNG) soon-to-be-completed CNG terminal in Washington County, ME, the companies said. The customers to be served typically use at least 75,000 gallons of heating oil annually. Boston-based XNG currently trucks liquefied natural gas to industrial customers. The partnership brings together XNG proprietary technology with Dead River’s more than one hundred years of experience in trucked fuels and energy services.

Debt-tarnished Quicksilver Resources Inc. said Thursday it is still in talks to sell a nonoperated minority working interest in its Barnett Shale assets and is negotiating a potential joint venture (JV) in the Horn River Basin in northeast British Columbia. Investors have been awaiting deals on both fronts for some time.

Debt-tarnished Quicksilver Resources Inc. said Thursday it is still in talks to sell a nonoperated minority working interest in its Barnett Shale assets and is negotiating a potential joint venture (JV) in the Horn River Basin in northeast British Columbia. Investors have been awaiting deals on both fronts for some time.

Sempra Energy’s U.S. power and gas unit has agreed to sell half of its natural gas-fired 1,250 MW Mesquite Power Plant in Arizona to Phoenix-based Salt River Project (SRP) for $371 million. The agreement, which also includes a half-interest in infrastructure shared by the two 625 MW units at Mesquite, requires approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies. San Diego-based Sempra said it expects all the approvals will be received in the first quarter. SRP’s board earlier this year approved its acquisition of a 100% interest in one of Mesquite’s 625 MW units. Sempra U.S. Gas and Power CEO Jeffrey Martin said the sale helps Sempra fulfill its goal of “reducing exposure to the merchant power market, while also allowing us to put greater emphasis on growing our Southeast natural gas portfolio.”

SandRidge Energy Inc. last week agreed to sell its Permian Basin portfolio for $2.6 billion in cash to privately held Sheridan Production Partners II, a sale that has been anticipated since early November.