Whiting Petroleum signs agreements to acquire North Dakota assets

Whiting Petroleum signed two Agreements to acquire unoperated oil and gas assets in the Williston Basin of North Dakota, USA from two undisclosed private companies.

The assets were acquired for a total cash consideration of $273 million, before closing adjustments.

Assets being acquired include 14,563 net acres, four gross/0.2 net interests in drilled and uncompleted wells and 277 gross/32 net undrilled locations.

Located in Mountrail County, North Dakota, these assets increase the average working working interest, from 61% to 74%, in Whiting Petroleum’s Sanish field.

Whiting’s President and CEO, Lynn A Peterson, said: “These transactions are a continuation of the strategy we have put in place from the end of 2020. By increasing our working interest, we immediately recognize substantial cash flows that are accretive to shareholders.

“We know and understand Sanish’s business extremely well and are very comfortable with the rate of return we are getting.”

In the short term, Whiting plans to develop the undeveloped locations.

Whiting said the assets, when the deals close, are expected to bring in around 4,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Of the two transactions, the smaller acquisition was completed in the fourth quarter of 2021, while the larger transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

Whiting also unveiled its capital plan which includes operating two drilling rigs and a completions crew in the Williston Basin for most of this year.

This year, the company expects to reinvest around 40% of the forecast EBITDA for the period, which is in line with the previous year.

The company declared a dividend price per share of $0.25 per share for the first quarter of 2022 for registered shareholders, payable March 15.

In September 2021, Whiting reported a 2.3% decline in total oil and gas production rates.