By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 6 -- Newfield Exploration Co., Houston, agreed to buy privately owned Denver-based Inland Resources for $465 million, plus $111 million in assumed debt. Closing is expected by early September.
"This acquisition places Newfield on the map in the Rockies, an area in which we intend to grow in the future," said Newfield Pres. and CEO David A. Trice.
Inland's main asset is the 110,000-acre Monument Butte field in the Uinta basin of northeastern Utah. Inland operates Monument Butte and has an 80% interest.
Newfield internally estimated that the deal will bring it 326 bcfe of proved reserves and 439 bcfe of probable reserves, of which 85% are oil and 70% are proved undeveloped. Pro forma for this transaction, Newfield expects its 2004 production to be 240-250 bcfe, an increase of 9-13% compared with 2003.
Moody's Investors Service Inc. of New York affirmed Newfield's Ba2 senior implied rating with a stable outlook following the acquisition announcement.
"The ratings are supported by a history of sound funding and business strategies [and] the important addition of Inland's diversification away from the Gulf of Mexico," for Newfield, said John Diaz, Moody's managing director of corporate finance.
