Struck

Australia’s Austin Exploration Ltd. has struck an agreement for Houston-based Halcon Resources Corp. to participate in its Birch Project in the northeastern Eagle Ford Shale. Halcon’s founders are Eagle Ford veterans, having pioneered the play with a previous company.

A unit of Chevron Corp. and affiliates of Argentina’s state-controlled YPF SA have struck a long-sought agreement for the U.S. major to provide an initial $1.24 billion to further development of shale oil and gas resources from the Vaca Muerta formation in Argentina’s Neuquen province.

Houston-based ZaZa Energy LLC has struck a deal to sell about 10,300 acres in Fayette, Gonzalez and Lavaca counties in Texas for about $28.8 million to a unit of Sanchez Energy after a deal fell through with another buyer that was unable to fund and close a transaction, parent ZaZa Energy Corp. said. ZaZa calls the acreage its Moulton properties. In March, ZaZa announced two pending Moulton sales: one for $43.3 million for 10,000 acres and another for the remainder of its Moulton properties for $9.2 million (see Shale Daily, March 26). “Given the current landscape, we believe that transacting at this metric was the best and most prudent action for the company at this time,” ZaZa CEO Todd Brooks said of the latest deal. “We remain focused on monetizing select Eagle Ford assets in order to improve our balance sheet, and we are currently pursuing other joint ventures in the area. In the Eaglebine, our joint venture is progressing as planned, and we anticipate timely drilling of the first three wells as part of the agreement [see Shale Daily, April 8].” ZaZa has received a down payment of $1.4 million for the Moulton properties; closing of the sale is expected by July 31.

Exco Resources Inc. is paying Chesapeake Energy Corp. $1 billion for something wet and something dry: about 55,000 acres in the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale of Texas and about 9,600 acres in the drier Haynesville Shale in North Louisiana.

Florida-based TECO Energy last week struck its first utility purchase outside its home state in an agreement to buy New Mexico Gas Co., the state’s principle gas provider, for $950 million, including $200 million of debt. The transaction adds 50% to TECO’s Sunbelt-focused customer base.

Crosstex Energy Inc. will invest about $25 million in a third natural gas compression and condensate stabilization facility in the Ohio River Valley through E2, a company Crosstex formed in March with former management of Enerven Compression Services to serve Utica Shale producers.

Golden Pass Products LLC and its backers, Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) and ExxonMobil Corp., have struck a framework agreement for the sale of potentially the full 15.6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) output of the proposed Golden Pass natural gas liquefaction and export project in Sabine Pass, TX.

Forest Oil Corp. continues to step up its activity in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas with the aid of a recently struck joint venture while it expands activity in the Texas Panhandle. East Texas results remain consistent and predictable, and the company is developing a new oil project in the area, said CEO Patrick R. McDonald.

Midland, TX-based Clayton Williams Energy Inc. (CWEI) has struck a deal with a financial investor to monetize 95% of its Wolfberry oil and gas reserves, leasehold interests and facilities in Andrews County, TX, for $214 million. Proceeds will be used to reduce debt.