Chicago 22/04/2016 - Black Stone Minerals acquired a portion of Freeport-McMoran's oil and gas business for $102 million, the company announced on Thursday.
The deal includes a mineral package of roughly 126,000 net mineral acres in twenty states including significant concentrations in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
"This transaction is a great example of the type of package that Black Stone likes to acquire – a diverse set of mineral and royalty assets with existing production, near-term development opportunities, and meaningful exposure to attractive oil and gas provinces," Thomas Carter Jr., Black Stone Minerals’ president, CEO and chairman, said.
During the fourth quarter of 2015, the territory's average daily production was approximately 850 barrels of oil equivalents per day. Additionally, the land includes developed producing reserves of two million barrels of oil equivalents (43 percent oil) as of December 31, 2015.
The transaction will be funded with cash and is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter this year, Black Stone said.
Freeport has recently been selling assets to lower its debt burden and shore-up its balance sheet in the face of the commodities downturn.
The company has been reluctant to sell its core mining assets and instead has focused on shedding periphery assets.
(Editing by Tom Jennemann)