Lonestar Resources Acquires Eagle Ford Acreage in $71.3 Million Deal

Lonestar Eagle Ford Acreage Acquisition
Lonestar Eagle Ford Acreage Acquisition

Lonestar Resources acquired 15,232 gross (13,156 net) Eagle Ford acres for $71.3 million in late February 2014. With the acquisition, the company now holds 23,079 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale.

The acreage assets included in the deal had a net production of 664 boe/d at the end of 2013, and are located in LaSalle, Frio, Wilson, Brazos and Robertson Counties.

There are many deals like this one taking place in the Eagle Ford. In 2013, approximately $9 billion was spent on acreage deals in the play.

Read more: Eagle Ford Deal Value Leads the U.S. in 2013

Lonestar's Drilling Inventory

Almost all of the acreage will be operated by Lonestar, which will increase the company's Eagle Ford Shale drilling inventory to seven years. Prior to this deal, Lonestar's drilling inventory was five years.

In keeping with [our] core strategy, roughly 90% of the Eagle Ford locations are on leasehold which is operated by Lonestar. This feature, in combination with the fact that roughly two-thirds of the 13,156 net acres being acquired are already held by production (HBP), means that Lonestar will be able to largely dictate the pace of capital spending, which has always been critical to our ability to grow without stretching our available liquidity.
— Lonestar's Managing Director, Frank Bracken

Lonestar's Eagle Ford Reserves

Lonestar Resource's proved reserves will increase by 7.4 million BOE and the company's proved PV-10* will increase by $138.3 million to $566.4 million. The deal increases Lonestar’s overall reserves (proved and probable) to 36 million BOE.

PV10 - Present value of estimated future oil and gas revenues, net of estimated direct expenses, discounted at an annual discount rate of 10%. This nomenclature is most commonly used in the energy industry, and is used to estimate the present value of a company's proved oil and gas reserves.

Read more at lonestarresourcesinc.com

Lonestar Resources - Amadeus Deal Creates Public Company

Lonestar Resources Operations Map
Lonestar Resources Operations Map

Lonestar Resources is an independent operator with assets in Barnett, Bakken, and Eagle Ford shale plays. The company has over 5,000 acres prospective for the Eagle Ford spread across Dimmit, La Salle, and Wilson counties.

The company made offers for Eureka Energy earlier in the year, but bowed out as Aurora Oil & Gas increased its bid. The company is now being acquired by an Australian company, Amadeus Energy.

Amadeus is a public company that was created by Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities for the sole purpose of seeking oil & gas investment opportunities.

“We believe this will create a company with a significantly more compelling investment proposition…and the potential for substantial future earnings growth from both existing assets and new acquisitions,”

Amadeus chairman Craig Coleman said. The new company will change its name to Lonestar Resources and we expect the well capitalized operator to speed up the pace of development in the Eagle Ford.

Is a Eureka Energy Bidding War Close?

Eureka Energy's board is rejected an offer from Aurora Oil & Gas, but could be near an agreement with Lonestar Resources. Details of a potential agreement will not be known until Eureka's board meets over the weekend. Aurora's offer is only good until June 15 and Australian regulations prevent the company from making a higher offer until after that date. Lonestar Resources is a private Fort Worth based company with interests in the Bakken, Barnett, and Eagle Ford shales.

Read more on the potential offer at wsj.com