U.S. oil producer, Alta Mesa Holdings, announced this week it will finalize its exit from the Eagle Ford by selling its subsidiary, Alta Mesa Eagle, LLC to EnerVest for $125 million.
Related: Is it "Doomsday" in the Eagle Ford?
The deal includes Alta Mesa properties primarily located in Karnes County and represents 7.8 million barrels of oil equivalent in reserve.
Analysts expect oil-company asset sales to increase in coming months as lenders reassess the loans they made to oil producers when crude prices were higher.
The recent downturn in the oil and gas industry has hit all of the big players hard causing small producers and business in the Eagle Ford to shut their doors due to the fierce competition that has added to the stress of the crisis.
Related: Fierce Competition in the Eagle Ford
In a recent study of 66 companies, the IHS found that in the first quarter of the year alone they had to write down nearly $29 billion in the value of their assets, which exceeded the total for the full year of 2014. These measures by big producers are squeezing out many local service companies who are being forced to drastically reduce their prices and fees, causing a ripple effect that negatively impacts all parts of small local economies.
In a separate deal, Alta Mesa signed a Letter of Intent with EnerVest tht will allow its subsidiary, Oklahoma Energy Acquisitions LLC (OEA) to purchase 1,700 acres Kingfisher County, Oklahoma by the end of 2015.
Other recent deals in the Eagle Ford:
- Repsol completed its acquisition of Talisman Energy last month and became one of the largest companies in the energy sector worldwide. more
- Noble Energy plans to get into the shale business by acquiring independent producer, Rosetta Resources. more
Read more at altamesa.com