Haynesville Shale

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has reached a deal to sell 78,000 acres in the Haynesville Shale in northern Louisiana to an unnamed private company, the Oklahoma City-based independent announced Monday.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Monday told Frisco, TX-based Comstock Resources Inc. that the company is in full compliance with continued listing standards for the exchange. The determination was based on “…consistent and positive performance with respect to the plan the company previously submitted to regain compliance and its achievement of compliance with the minimum market capitalization and shareholders’ equity requirements,” according to Comstock. The company will be subject to a 12-month follow-up period to ensure continued compliance. Last month Comstock management discussed post-recapitalization plans, which include writing off acreage in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale and focusing more intently on the Haynesville Shale.

Castleton Commodities International LLC agreed Friday to pay Anadarko Petroleum Corp. $1 billion-plus for upstream and midstream properties in the Carthage producing area of East Texas.

Recently recapitalized, Frisco, TX-based Comstock Resources Inc. is relying more than ever on the Haynesville Shale. Its once-promising Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) acreage is a bust given lower-for-longer oil prices, and Eagle Ford Shale drilling is still paused.

Dallas-based independent Covey Park Energy LLC has added about 90,000 net acres prospective for the Haynesville Shale and Bossier Sands. The transaction, for an undisclosed amount, includes assets with average output of 35 MMcf/d net. The leasehold primarily is in the Texas counties of Panola, Nacogdoches and San Augustine, and in Louisiana’s DeSoto, Bossier and Sabine parishes. The acquisition, from an undisclosed seller, gives the Denham Capital-backed operator about 218,000 net acres across the natural gas-rich region. In October 2014 Covey Park acquired 89,462 net acres from Encana Oil and Gas (USA) Inc. and Navasota Resources LLP. It added 34,000 net acres earlier this year in a $420 million transaction with EP Energy Corp. (see Shale Daily, March 21). During the fourth quarter, Covey Park expects production to average about 325 MMcf/d net. Total proved reserves with the acquisition are estimated to be more than 2.5 Tcf.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. surpassed Wall Street expectations during the third quarter as asset sales and restructured midstream contracts enhanced profits.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) is acquiring interests in PennTex Midstream Partners LP (PTXP) from multiple sellers for about $640 million total, giving it access to North Louisiana infrastructure that serves Range Resources Corp., among others.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. unveiled a new unconventional resource within Oklahoma’s stacked reservoirs and offered up a renewed zeal to step up in the Powder River Basin, two “game-changers” that are expected to lift oil volumes within the natural gas-heavy portfolio.

Frisco, TX-based Comstock Resources Inc. said Monday it is selling conventional natural gas properties in South Texas for $28 million, with proceeds to fund drilling this year, while it restarts drilling in the Haynesville Shale.