Enters $300 Million Sale of Operations in Northeast Pennsylvania
TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
WPX Energy (NYSE: WPX) announced today it signed an agreement to sell
its operations in northeast Pennsylvania and release certain firm
transportation capacity to Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) for
approximately $300 million cash.
A rig drills for natural gas in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale. WPX Energy signed a $300 million deal to sell a portion of its holdings in Pennsylvania. (Photo by Edward DeCroce)
“The transformation of our company continues as we execute our
strategy,” said Rick Muncrief, WPX president and chief executive officer.
“We’re heading into 2015 reshaped, refocused and ready to grow margins,
develop our highest returning assets and build the long-term value of
the company,” Muncrief added.
WPX’s first transaction involving its Marcellus Shale operations marks
the company’s sixth significant agreement it has entered into since May
to narrow the company’s business focus, increase scalability of core
assets, bring value forward and further strengthen its balance sheet. As
previously announced, WPX also recently executed a new five-year, $1.5
billion senior unsecured credit facility.
The sale to Southwestern Energy Company includes physical operations
covering approximately 46,700 net acres, roughly 50 million cubic feet
per day of net natural gas production and 63 operated horizontal wells.
The assets are primarily located in Susquehanna County, Pa.
The transaction also includes the release of firm transportation
capacity WPX has under contract in the northeast, primarily 260 million
cubic feet per day with Millennium Pipeline. Upon the transfer of the
firm capacity, WPX will be released from approximately $24 million per
year in annual demand obligations associated with the transport.
WPX and Southwestern expect to close the transaction during the first
quarter of 2015 subject to regulatory approval and typical closing
conditions.
WPX’s remaining operations in the Marcellus Shale primarily consists of
its physical operations in Westmoreland County in southwestern
Pennsylvania and additional firm transport capacity on Transco’s
Northeast Supply Link line. These assets also are targeted for
divestiture.
UPCOMING CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
WPX CEO Rick Muncrief is scheduled to speak at the Capital One
Securities annual energy conference on Thursday, Dec. 11, at
approximately 10:20 a.m. Eastern. Please visit www.wpxenergy.com
on the day of the event to confirm the time, see the slides and listen
to the presentation.
About WPX Energy, Inc.
WPX Energy develops and operates oil and gas producing properties
in North Dakota, New Mexico and Colorado. The company has a long history
of innovation and stakeholder engagement, recognized through more than
40 local, state, federal and industry awards.
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this
press release that address activities, events or developments that the
company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future
are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a
number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond
the control of the company. Statements regarding future drilling
and production are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties
normally incident to the exploration for and development and production
of oil and gas. These risks include, but are not limited to, the
volatility of oil, natural gas and NGL prices; uncertainties inherent in
estimating oil, natural gas and NGL reserves; drilling risks;
environmental risks; and political or regulatory changes. Investors
are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and that actual results or developments may differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date
of this press release, even if subsequently made available by WPX Energy
on its website or otherwise. WPX Energy does not undertake and
expressly disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking
statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investors are urged to consider carefully the disclosure in our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available from us
at WPX Energy, Attn: Investor Relations, P.O. Box 21810, Tulsa,
Okla., 74102, or from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Additionally, the SEC requires oil and gas companies, in filings made
with the SEC, to disclose proved reserves, which are those quantities of
oil and gas, which, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can
be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible –
from a given date forward, from known reservoirs, under existing
economic conditions, operating methods, and governmental regulations.
The SEC permits the optional disclosure of probable and possible
reserves. From time to time, we elect to use “probable” reserves and
“possible” reserves, excluding their valuation. The SEC defines
“probable” reserves as “those additional reserves that are less certain
to be recovered than proved reserves but which, together with proved
reserves, are as likely as not to be recovered.” The SEC defines
“possible” reserves as “those additional reserves that are less certain
to be recovered than probable reserves.” The Company has applied these
definitions in estimating probable and possible reserves. Statements of
reserves are only estimates and may not correspond to the ultimate
quantities of oil and gas recovered. Any reserve estimates provided in
this presentation that are not specifically designated as being
estimates of proved reserves may include estimated reserves not
necessarily calculated in accordance with, or contemplated by, the SEC‘s
reserves reporting guidelines. Investors are urged to consider closely
the disclosure in our SEC filings that may be accessed through the SEC’s
website at www.sec.gov.
The SEC’s rules prohibit us from filing resource estimates. Our
resource estimations include estimates of hydrocarbon quantities for (i)
new areas for which we do not have sufficient information to date to
classify as proved, probable or even possible reserves, (ii) other areas
to take into account the low level of certainty of recovery of the
resources and (iii) uneconomic proved, probable or possible reserves.
Resource estimates do not take into account the certainty of resource
recovery and are therefore not indicative of the expected future
recovery and should not be relied upon. Resource estimates might never
be recovered and are contingent on exploration success, technical
improvements in drilling access, commerciality and other factors.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141202006546/en/
Source: WPX Energy Inc