Updates
July 12, 2012: another look at the announcement and more background information at equities.com.
The combined company's first operated well will be in Dunn County, N.D., which is planned to begin drilling in early 2013 and will be followed by a continuous single-rig drilling program in 2013.
Original Post
Link here at Rigzone. com. Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. and Emerald Oil Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerald Oil & Gas NL, announced that they have entered into a securities purchase agreement whereby Voyager will acquire Emerald Oil to create a U.S.-based oil and gas company that will focus on select oil and gas basins in the Rocky Mountain region. The transaction will combine the companies' oil-producing assets in the Williston Basin, specifically in the Bakken and Three Forks plays located in North Dakota and Montana, with Emerald Oil's acreage position focusing on the Niobrara shale in the Sandwash Basin located in Colorado and Wyoming.The new company will operate as Emerald Oil and will be headquartered in Denver, CO.
The transaction will significantly expand the acreage position of both companies in the Williston Basin. The combination is intended to create an oil and gas company with operating capabilities that has the ability to effectively manage a multi-rig drilling program in the Rocky Mountains and extract maximum value from both of its operated and non-operated drilling programs.
The combined company will operate as Emerald Oil and will be headquartered in Denver, Colorado and maintain its lease acquisition program from Billings, Montana focused on the Williston Basin.