Noble Energy acquires rival

HOUSTON, January 17, 2017 – Houston-based Noble Energy has announced a deal to purchase rival Clayton Williams Energy. Once finalised, the USD 2.7-billion transaction will give Noble the second-largest acreage position in the Southern Delaware basin of the larger Permian Basin.

In a company statement late on Monday, Noble Energy said that the boards of both companies unanimously agreed to the buyout, which will be comprised of cash and stock and lead to Clayton Williams shareholders owning 11% of the newly merged entity.

Noble Energy will also assume about USD 500 million of Clayton Williams Energy’s outstanding debt. Included in the arrangement are 480 kilometres of pipeline in the basin. Clayton Williams Energy is headquartered in Midland, Texas, and specialises in oil and gas E&P in Texas and New Mexico.

Noble Energy will now control around 480 net square kilometres in Reeves and Ward counties. The new acreage allows for more than 4,200 drilling positions and contains more than 2 billion boe in net unrisked resource.

Drilling costs in the Texas’ rich Permian Basin are relatively low and companies have been rushing to grab land and set up operations as prices recover. Noble Energy expects to have six rigs in the basin by the end of the year.

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