Devon Energy to divest $1 billion in upstream assets

Oklahoma City, Okla., independent Devon Energy Corp. reported on plans to divest $1 billion-worth of upstream assets including noncore portions of the Barnett shale area focused mainly around Johnson County as well as other properties in the company’s US resource base.

Devon expects to start the divestiture program in this year’s second quarter and complete the sale process over the next 12-18 months.

The company plans to “deploy divestiture proceeds toward its US resource plays and to further strengthen its investment-grade financial position.”

Dave Hager, president and chief executive officer, said, “The successful resource expansion in our world-class STACK and Delaware basin assets has generated an abundance of opportunities within our portfolio. Given the multidecade growth platform these franchise assets provide, we are taking this initial step to bring value forward from noncore assets and sharpen our focus on the highest-returning growth inventory in our portfolio.”