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RIL exits Eagle Ford with sale to Ensign

FINANCE & INDIA’S Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is exiting
INVESTMENT the US shale industry via a sale of its assets in
the Eagle Ford play in Texas to Ensign Natural
Resources. The deal comes after RIL also sold its
position in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale earlier
this year for $250mn.
The price tag for the new transaction has not
been specified. However, RIL said it was sell-
ing the Eagle Ford position “at a consideration
higher than the current carrying value of the
asset”. According to Ensign, the sale includes
62,000 acres (251 square km), spanning Texas’
Bee, DeWitt, Karnes and Live Oak counties, and
current net production of around 18,000 barrels
of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
The US company added that the transac- After the transaction closes, it will own and
tion would increase the ownership in leases operate roughly 130,000 acres (526 square
and wells it had acquired from Pioneer Natural km) in the core of the Eagle Ford, with out-
Resources in 2019 and Newpek in 2020 to 100%. put approaching 40,000 boepd. It said this
RIL entered the Eagle Ford in 2010 by acquir- would make it one of the premier private
ing a 45% stake in Pioneer’s 212,000-net acre operators in the play.
(858-square km) position in the play for $1.15bn. “Through our efforts over the last three years,
Downturns in oil and gas prices since the we have created an asset that generates signifi-
Indian company entered US shale had affected cant free cash flow and has a deep inventory of
the economic viability of those projects and led highly economic well locations in the core of the
it to sell off those assets this year – despite prices Eagle Ford shale,” stated Ensign’s president and
now picking up again. CEO, Brett Pennington.
For Ensign, meanwhile, the transaction Ensign is funded through Warburg Pincus
helps it to build scale in the Eagle Ford. and the Kayne Private Energy Income Funds.™

OIL’s profit doubles in Q3

PERFORMANCE STATE-RUN Oil India Ltd’s (OIL) profit more OIL noted that its crude oil production
than doubled in the third quarter of this year, had expanded by 1.78% y/y in the quarter,
owing to both a surge in crude prices as well as while gas output had jumped by 26.38% on
stronger oil and gas production. the year.
Net profit soared 111% year on year in the The company, alongside state-run Oil and
three months to September 30 to INR5.04bn Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), has been under
($67.7mn), the company said on November 10. mounting pressure from the government to
Revenue, meanwhile, climbed to INR33.11bn boost production and help turnaround the
($444.6mn) in the third quarter of this year from country’s increasing dependence on foreign
INR21.66bn ($290.8mn) in the same period of supplies of oil and gas.
2020. To that end, OIL teamed up with Detect
The company said its average realised oil Technologies last month to launch a project to
price climbed by 66.9% y/y to $71.35 per barrel, inspect and survey the developer’s pipeline net-
up from $42.75 per barrel a year earlier. work using autonomous drones.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 12•November•2021