Oz Firms Form JV Targeting Oklahoma Oil & Gas

Australian firms Brookside Energy and Stonehorse Energy have formed a joint venture to acquire producing oil and gas assets in the Anadarko basin of Oklahoma in the US, they said on June 10.

The 50:50 partnership called the Orion project will target mostly gas-focused long-life production assets with very low terminal decline and upside that can be realised with remedial workover activity and/or unexploited or underexploited behind pipe or deeper productive zones, the firms said. Brookside's subsidiary Black Mesa Energy will be responsible for identifying, acquiring and operating the properties.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Stonehorse on this new venture," Brookside's CEO David Prentice said. "This time in the commodity price cycle is presenting some fantastic opportunities and we are extremely well-positioned to take advantage of this and to continue to grow our asset base within the Swish area of interest."

The partners have pledged a combined investment of $500,000, with the opportunity to expand this commitment as the joint venture grows. Orion will focus on acquiring "held by production" acreage that allows lessees to continue drilling as long as it is producing a minimum amount of commercial oil and gas. Asset targets should be cash flow positive at the current forward strip pricing, the companies said.

Prentice said Black Mesa had been "working hard over the last several weeks sifting through an enormous amount of data looking for the best opportunities."

"I'm excited to report that this work is already delivering up targets to pursue," he said. "This is going to be a very exciting initiative for us, and we look forward to keeping our shareholders and the market updated as we progress it."