Aethon Energy Management ("Aethon"), a Dallas-based private investment firm and owner-operator of onshore oil & gas assets, today announced the completion of its acquisition of natural gas assets from wholly owned subsidiaries of QEP Resources, Inc. (NYSE: QEP).
Image: Aethon Energy completes acquisition of QEP Resources' Northwest Louisiana natural gas assets. Photo: courtesy of Dani Simmonds/Freeimages.com.
The assets are located in the Haynesville basin in northwest Louisiana.
The QEP assets comprise approximately 49,700 net acres and 607 operated wells of natural gas producing properties and undeveloped acreage in the Haynesville. Aethon III also acquired all of QEP’s associated gas gathering and treating systems related to these assets, supporting up to 600 MMcfe/d of production. The collective reserve base of QEP’s assets combines low risk, long life, and highly predictable production with attractive development opportunities.
With the addition of the QEP assets, Aethon and its affiliates operate in excess of 455,000 net acres and 650 MMcfe/d of net production in the Haynesville region and other previously acquired regions in the Wind River basin of Wyoming. Aethon is the operator of more than 2,650 producing wells and employs approximately 220 professionals.
Gordon Huddleston, President and Partner of Aethon Energy, commented, “We leveraged our in- depth knowledge of the Haynesville to underwrite and acquire these QEP assets. As a firm with a long-term, asymmetric investment focus, we continue to find attractive opportunities in theHaynesville given the quality of the resources in place and the region’s proximity to demand sources such as LNG facilities and petrochemical plants.”
Albert Huddleston, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner, added, “This transaction would not be possible without the unwavering support of our institutional partners who continue to place their confidence and capital with us. We look forward to developing these assets and will continue to pursue additional acquisitions for Aethon III that meet our strict underwriting criteria and offer strong synergies.”
In connection with the transaction BMO Capital Markets acted as financial advisor, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as corporate legal counsel, and Sidley Austin LLP served as finance legal counsel to Aethon. Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to QEP.
Source: Company Press Release