(By Balaseshan) Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE:NBL) said it has agreed to sell certain oil and natural gas properties in Kansas to an affiliate of Citation Oil & Gas Corp., a privately held Houston based oil and gas company, for about $140 million.
The transaction has an effective date of April 1, 2012 and is expected to close in September 2012, subject to customary closing conditions and adjustments.
The properties include Noble Energy's interest in about 250 producing wells on about 14,000 net acres. As of the effective date, net production was about 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and net proved reserves were about 7 million barrels of oil equivalent. Production is almost entirely crude oil.
The transactions, along with the sales of Kansas property as well as Dumbarton and Lochranza assets in the North Sea, are expected to generate about $1.1 billion of after-tax proceeds by the end of the third quarter.
The next phase of the company's non-core divestment program, continuing into 2013, involves small asset packages in the Mid-continent, Gulf Coast, San Juan, and Ark-La-Tex areas and its remaining assets in the North Sea.
"The Kansas property divestiture is our third announced sale this quarter and completes the first phase of our onshore non-core divestment plan," said David Stover, Noble Energy's President and Chief Operating Officer.
Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. advised Noble Energy on the transaction.
NBL is trading down 0.52% at $90.44 on Monday. The stock has been trading between $65.91 and $105.46 for the past 52 weeks.