Lime Rock Resources Acquires Abraxas' Bakken Assets -- $87 Million -- January 3, 2021

Updates

January 4, 2022: see this thread and specifically, "Treadstone." Or, go directly to this link:

Lime Rock Resources, acquirers and operators of producing oil and gas properties in the United States, announces two acquisitions today.  It has acquired the Williston Basin properties of Abraxas Petroleum for $87.2 million. It has also acquired properties from a private seller in the Austin Chalk and Eagle Ford in Texas for $271.3 million.  Over the last four months, the Lime Rock Resources team has made over $850 million in total property acquisitions.

The acquisition from Abraxas Petroleum consists of approximately 3,500 acres in McKenzie County, North Dakota.   The Lime Rock Resources team has been an active operator in the Williston Basin since 2014, and it now manages approximately 19,400 BOE per day of net production in North Dakota inclusive of the new assets.

The private acquisition is of producing properties on approximately 46,000 highly contiguous net acres located in Burleson, Milam, and Robertson Counties, Texas. The properties produced approximately 7,700 BOE per day as of the closing of the acquisition.

Fact: $87.2 million / 3500 acres = $25,000 / acre.

Idle back-of-the-envelope:

• 3500 acres / 1200 acres per drilling unit = three drilling units
• 468 producing wells
• each well, 600 bbls/month or 20 bbls / day
• 468 wells x 20 bbls / day = 9,360 bbls / day; round up to 12,000 boepd
• $87.2 million / 12,000 boepd = $75,000 / flowing boe.

Original Post 

Link here. 

Press release here.

Jan. 3, 2022-- Abraxas Petroleum Corporation, a Nevada corporation, today announced (i) the cash sale of its Williston Basin assets to Lime Rock Resources for $87.2MM, (ii) the repayment of all of its revolving credit facility and (iii) the exchange of its entire Second Lien Term Loan held by Angelo Gordon Energy Funding, LLC into newly authorized Series A Preferred Stock. The transactions, which closed today, were part of the Company’s previously announced strategic alternatives review.

From The San Antonio Express-News:

At the end of 2020, Abraxas said it had 103 producing wells in the Permian and 468 in the Williston. Through the first nine months of 2021, the Permian wells produced more oil than those in the Williston. But the wells in North Dakota produced more natural gas and far greater amounts of natural gas liquids, which are used as an industrial feedstock.

Abraxas was kicked off the Nasdaq exchange last fall after its stock price slipped to less than $1 per share. The company has been trading on over-the-counter markets since August 4, 2021.

I can't find the net acreage Abraxas had in the Bakken, but I have to assume it was less than 10,000 net acres.

From MDW blog:  Abraxas

• Whiting in talks with Abraxas to acquire the latter; Reuters; see this post;
• January, 2019, corporate presentation; looking to sell Bakken assets; EURs: middle Bakken, around 900K boe; Three Forks, around 800K boe;
• Filloon on AXAS, May 8, 2017; 
• November 6, 2013: sells 2,563 non-producing Bakken acres in its Fairview Prospect, Montana (Richland County) for $10.9 million ($4,250/acre)
• August, 2013: sees 4,600 - 4,800 boepd December, 2013, exit rate;
• sells 13,500 net acres; non-operated assets; to NRP; $35.5 million -- June 17, 2013
• 4Q12e: 4,300 - 4,500 boepd
• Operations in both the Bakken and Eagle Ford
• 21,000 net acres in the Bakken (ND + MT); 20,853, SeekingAlpha, 2011
• BEXP presentation says Abraxas has 20,853 net acres
• Nesson: 2,600 net acres; nice acreage
• Carter: 3,200 net acres; northeast of best Bakken; +/- value
• North Fork: 3,200 net acres; nice acreage
• Elkhorn Ranch: 2000 net acres; southwest North Dakota
• Elm Coulee: 440 net acres; where it all started in 2000
• Harding: 5,800 net acres; Williston area; nice area
• Sheridan: 3,000 net acres; Montana northwest of Williston (quality?)

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