Sell

Chevron Corp. late Tuesday agreed to sell a package of Alaska oil and natural gas assets in Cook Inlet to a subsidiary of privately held Hilcorp Energy Co.

BP plc was the only one of the top five U.S. producers of natural gas that also showed up among the top five gas marketers in 2010, according to an analysis by Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) of federal filings that showed a 6% gain in trading in 2010 over 2009.

The EXCO Resources Inc. board of directors is ending its bid to sell the company.

July natural gas futures retreated Wednesday as traders observed interest by systematic traders re-emerging on the sell side, and little concern from surprises in Thursday’s government inventory figures. At the close July was down 7.1 cents to $4.317 and August had skidded 7.3 cents to $4.350. August crude oil added $1.24 to $95.41/bbl.

Apache Corp. has retained Scotia Waterous (USA) Inc. to sell about 49,500 net acres (80,000 gross) in East Texas, which at the end of 1Q2011 were producing a total of 41 MMcfe/d net. The acreage to be sold includes 490 proved developed producing wells, which are 80% operated. Proved reserves are estimated at 233 Bcfe, with proved and probable reserves of 338 Bcfe. Most of the total proved and probable reserves are in Freestone, Nacogdoches and Upshur counties; additional acreage to be sold is in Camp, Rust, Angelina, Gregg, Panola, Marion, Harrison, Leon and Limestone counties. Production comes from several producing intervals that include the Bossier, Cotton Valley lime, Travis Peak and Rodessa formations. The bid due date is Aug. 4; the effective date is Sept. 1. For information contact Edward Katterhagen at (713) 437-5064.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. has agreed to purchase more than 13,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale in a deal valued at about $71.5 million, and it has temporarily moved one of its rigs from the Barnett Shale to the Eagle Ford in order to speed up production.

Noble Energy Inc. CEO Chuck Davidson said he was “really pleased” with the company’s growth in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. agreed to sell substantially all of its Barnett Shale Tier 1 properties to KKR Natural Resources (KNR), a partnership of an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP (KKR) and Premier Natural Resources, for $104 million, the companies said Wednesday.

Marathon Oil Corp. has struck a deal with Japan’s Marubeni Corp. to sell close to a one-third stake in 180,000 net acres in the natural gas-rich Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin for $270 million, or about $5,000 an acre.