- Agrees to acquire premier oil-focused leasehold in STACK and Powder River Basin plays
- Creates industry-leading positions in best emerging oil development plays in North America
- Adds thousands of high-quality drilling locations with substantial resource upside
- Commences divestiture program with targeted proceeds of $2 to $3 billion
- Proceeds from asset sales to bolster financial position

Devon Energy Corp. announced it has agreed to acquire 80,000 net surface acres, with up to 10 prospective zones, in the Anadarko Basin STACK play from privately held Felix Energy, a portfolio company of EnCap Investments, for $1.9 billion. In a separate transaction, the Company has also agreed to acquire 253,000 net acres in the Powder River Basin for $600 million. The transactions will be funded with approximately $1.35 billion of Devon equity issued to sellers and approximately $1.15 billion of cash on hand and borrowings.

“Devon has made several bold moves over the past few years transforming the company into a leading North American onshore producer with a portfolio that provides an advantaged platform to generate long-term value growth for shareholders,” said Dave Hager, president and CEO. “These acquisitions materially core up our position in two of the best emerging North America development oil plays and further upgrade our asset portfolio.”

“The success we have had growing our asset base has generated an abundance of opportunities within our portfolio,” said Hager. “In an effort to focus exclusively on our very best resource plays, strengthen our already solid financial position and drive investor value, we are also announcing our intent to divest non-core assets. This will sharpen our focus on what we believe to be the best oil and gas assets in North America.”

The EnLink Advantage Secures STACK Acquisition

In a related transaction announced separately today, EnLink Midstream agreed to acquire Tall Oak Midstream, a portfolio company for EnCap Flatrock Midstream, for $1.55 billion. Tall Oak’s gathering and processing assets are strategically located in the core area of the STACK play and the vast majority of the Felix acreage position is dedicated to this midstream infrastructure.

“We are excited about the opportunity presented with the Felix and Tall Oak acquisitions,” said Hager. “The synergistic relationship of these assets and our ownership in EnLink allowed the simultaneous acquisition of Felix’s upstream business by Devon with EnLink acquiring the associated midstream infrastructure of Tall Oak. This collaboration was a competitive advantage in securing these top-tier assets and a testament to the strength of our partnership which is well positioned to benefit from the significant upside the resource-rich STACK play offers.”

Best-In-Class Position in STACK Play

The 80,000 net surface acres being acquired in the STACK play are located in Blaine, Canadian and Kingfisher counties in Oklahoma, immediately northeast of Devon’s legacy STACK position. Situated in the over-pressured oil window of the play, these properties include low-risk development targets in up to 10 intervals including multiple landing zones in the Meramec, Osage and Woodford formations. Given the potential for numerous landing zones and tighter infill spacing opportunities across this high-quality acreage, Devon has identified 1,400 risked locations, with an unrisked inventory of more than 3,000 locations.

The acquired properties include production of approximately 9,000 oil-equivalent barrels (Boe) per day and estimated risked resource of approximately 400 million Boe. Based on an estimated value of the existing daily production in excess of $300 million, the Company estimates it is paying approximately $20,000 per surface acre or approximately $4 per Boe of risked resource.

“This acquisition has captured a significant position in the most economic portion of the STACK oil window, which is emerging as one of the top resource plays in North America,” said Tony Vaughn, executive vice president of exploration and production. “Combined with our current acreage position we have created a best-in-class STACK position that provides significant resource and drilling inventory to support visible growth for many years to come.”

Upon closing of the Felix assets in early 2016, Devon’s daily production in the STACK play, which includes the Cana-Woodford development, will increase to an industry-leading total of nearly 80,000 Boe per day. The Company now has exposure to 430,000 net surface acres in the STACK with 5,300 risked locations.

Achieving Scale in the Powder River Basin

The acquired Powder River Basin acreage is located to the south of Devon’s legacy position in Wyoming and includes production of 7,000 Boe per day, with approximately 85 percent oil. This leasehold resides in the core of the Powder River oil fairway and is most prospective for the Parkman, Turner and Teapot formations. The contiguous acreage allows for extended-reach horizontal drilling and the Company has conservatively identified 500 development-ready locations with potential for as many as 2,700 unrisked locations as appraisal drilling further derisks multiple formations in the oil fairway.

“This opportunistic transaction adds scale and scope to our Powder River Basin operations, creating the largest and highest quality acreage position in the industry,” said Vaughn. “Our Powder River programs are delivering some of the best returns at Devon, and we will apply our unique basin knowledge to efficiently develop and derisk this premium acreage position.”

After deducting the value of current production at $30,000 per flowing barrel and $100 million of midstream infrastructure, Devon secured the undeveloped leasehold at roughly $1,100 per acre.

Upon closing the transaction, Devon’s daily production from its Rockies business unit will increase to more than 30,000 Boe per day, and its Powder River Basin leasehold position will more than double to 470,000 net acres with stacked-pay potential across multiple oil-prone formations. The size of the opportunity is significant with several billion barrels of unrisked resource across the basin.

Funding Details and Non-Core Asset Sale Expectations

The acquisitions will initially be funded with a combination of equity and cash. Devon will issue shares to sellers valued at approximately $1.35 billion and intends to fund the balance of the acquisitions through cash on hand and borrowings.

The Company is in the process of marketing its Access Pipeline in Canada and is also planning to monetize various non-core upstream assets across its portfolio. Devon has identified 50,000 to 80,000 Boe per day of production from non-core assets to divest throughout 2016. The Company expects midstream and upstream divestitures to generate proceeds of $2 to $3 billion and plans to utilize sales proceeds to strengthen its financial position.

About Devon Energy

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) is an Oklahoma City-based independent energy company engaged in oil and gas exploration and production. Devon is a leading U.S.-based independent oil and gas producer and is included in the S&P 500 Index.