WPX Completes Sale of Northeast Pennsylvania Assets
2/2/2015
TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
WPX Energy (NYSE: WPX) announced today that it completed the sale of its
operations in northeast Pennsylvania, including the release of certain
firm transportation capacity, to Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN).
WPX has received nearly $600 million in cash this year through
completing two sales – this one involving Marcellus Shale operations and
the exit of its international interests in Argentina and Colombia. WPX
also is released from approximately $25 million per year in annual
transport obligations.
“We have a long-term strategy to build returns, margins and cash flow,”
said Rick Muncrief, WPX president and chief executive officer.
“In the near-term, there’s obviously going to be a lot of effort aimed
at driving down controllable costs. We’re evaluating everything as we
position the company for a rebound in commodity prices,” Muncrief added.
The sale to Southwestern Energy Company includes physical operations
covering approximately 46,700 net acres in the Marcellus Shale, roughly
50 million cubic feet per day of net natural gas production and 63
operated horizontal wells. The assets are primarily located in
Susquehanna County, Pa.
WPX’s remaining operations in the Marcellus Shale primarily consist of
its physical operations in Westmoreland County in southwestern
Pennsylvania and additional firm transport capacity under Transco’s
Northeast Supply Link project. These assets also are targeted for
divestiture.
Since May of last year, WPX entered into six significant agreements to
narrow the company’s business focus, increase scalability of core
assets, bring value forward and further strengthen its balance sheet.
WPX has closed five of the six transactions. The sole agreement
outstanding involves the sale of its Powder River Basin operations. If
the agreement does not successfully close in February, either party will
have the option to terminate the transaction.
UPCOMING WEBCAST
WPX plans to discuss its fourth quarter and year-end 2014 financial and
operations results during a webcast on Thursday morning, Feb. 26,
beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Participants are encouraged to access the event and the corresponding
slides at www.wpxenergy.com.
A replay of the webcast will be available on WPX’s website for one year
following the event.
About WPX Energy, Inc.
WPX Energy develops and operates oil and gas producing properties
in North Dakota, New Mexico and Colorado. The company has a long history
of innovation and stakeholder engagement, recognized through more than
40 local, state, federal and industry awards.
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this
press release that address activities, events or developments that the
company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future
are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a
number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond
the control of the company. Statements regarding future drilling
and production are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties
normally incident to the exploration for and development and production
of oil and gas. These risks include, but are not limited to, the
volatility of oil, natural gas and NGL prices; uncertainties inherent in
estimating oil, natural gas and NGL reserves; drilling risks;
environmental risks; and political or regulatory changes. Investors
are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and that actual results or developments may differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date
of this press release, even if subsequently made available by WPX Energy
on its website or otherwise. WPX Energy does not undertake and
expressly disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking
statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investors are urged to consider carefully the disclosure in our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available from us
at WPX Energy, Attn: Investor Relations, P.O. Box 21810, Tulsa,
Okla., 74102, or from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Additionally, the SEC requires oil and gas companies, in filings made
with the SEC, to disclose proved reserves, which are those quantities of
oil and gas, which, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can
be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible –
from a given date forward, from known reservoirs, under existing
economic conditions, operating methods, and governmental regulations.
The SEC permits the optional disclosure of probable and possible
reserves. From time to time, we elect to use “probable” reserves and
“possible” reserves, excluding their valuation. The SEC defines
“probable” reserves as “those additional reserves that are less certain
to be recovered than proved reserves but which, together with proved
reserves, are as likely as not to be recovered.” The SEC
defines“possible” reserves as “those additional reserves that are less
certain to be recovered than probable reserves.” The Company has applied
these definitions in estimating probable and possible reserves.
Statements of reserves are only estimates and may not correspond to the
ultimate quantities of oil and gas recovered. Any reserve estimates
provided in this presentation that are not specifically designated as
being estimates of proved reserves may include estimated reserves not
necessarily calculated in accordance with, or contemplated by, the SEC’s
reserves reporting guidelines. Investors are urged to consider closely
the disclosure in our SEC filings that may be accessed through the SEC’s
website at www.sec.gov.
The SEC’s rules prohibit us from filing resource estimates. Our
resource estimations include estimates of hydrocarbon quantities for (i)
new areas for which we do not have sufficient information to date to
classify as proved, probable or even possible reserves, (ii) other areas
to take into account the low level of certainty of recovery of the
resources and (iii) uneconomic proved, probable or possible reserves.
Resource estimates do not take into account the certainty of resource
recovery and are therefore not indicative of the expected future
recovery and should not be relied upon. Resource estimates might never
be recovered and are contingent on exploration success, technical
improvements in drilling access, commerciality and other factors.
Source: WPX Energy Inc