Empire Petroleum has acquired oil and gas assets in New Mexico, US, from ExxonMobil for an undisclosed sum. The transaction involves producing oil and gas assets and related gathering assets located in Lea County, New Mexico.
The acquisition has been made by Empire Petroleum’s subsidiary Empire New Mexico from ExxonMobil’s XTO Holdings. Empire said that the assets comprise about 700 gross oil, gas, and injector wells. It also includes approximately 40,000 net acres of Permian leasehold.
The upstream assets are located in the Eunice Monument (EMSU) and Arrowhead Grayburg (AGU) fields.
These fields are located on the north-western edge of the Permian Basin’s Central Basin Platform in south-eastern Lea County. Empire Petroleum president Mike Morrisett said: “We believe the EMSU and surrounding acquired fields have a significant resource base.
“In our view, these assets have current infill drilling and return-to-production well potential that should shortly enhance daily production. Morrisett said that the acquisition brings Empire’s aggregate of over 100,000 net leasehold acres and approximately1800 net BOEPD in five states.
Empire CEO Tommy Pritchard added, “This acquisition is a terrific example of what Empire looks to manage in their assets: mature producing oil properties with predictable, long life production with significant upside potential. “Looking towards the future, the geologic location of the Permian EMSU and AGU holds 23,400 acres of residual oil zone potential (ROZ).”
Moreover, Empire New Mexico has signed a $16.25m senior secured convertible note with Energy Evolution Master Fund, to fund the transaction. Earlier this year, ExxonMobil has agreed to divest its upstream assets in the UK North Sea for more than $1bn to NEO Energy, part of Norway’s HitecVision.
