Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Emerging U.S. shale player Halcon Resources said it spent more than $700 million to shift its priorities in its Texas operations.
The company said it spent $705 million to acquire acreage in the Delaware shale basin, in Texas, from a private operator while unloading acreage in the Eagle Ford shale for $500 million.
"These transactions represent a strategic pivot for us into the Delaware basin," President and CEO Floyd Wilson said in a statement.
A recent survey of shifting dynamics in the Lower 48 from consultant group Wood Mackenzie finds the Delaware basin may be one to watch.
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"In our view, the Delaware Basin looks to be setting itself up nicely for overall productivity gains at the end of 2017 and into 2018," the consultant group said in an emailed report.
Eagle Ford, meanwhile, has seen dwindling interest as shale oil and gas operators reconfigure their focus in Texas. Anadarko Petroleum last week agreed to sell off its assets in the Eagle Ford shale basin in Texas to Sanchez Energy Corp. and Blackstone Group for $2.3 billion.
That left Anadarko with holdings primarily in Colorado and offshore.
The Delaware basin is inside the broader Permian shale area that spreads across the western Texas border into New Mexico.
Nearly half of all the activity in exploration and production in the United States took place in Texas.
The latest forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts production from the Lower 48 states at 6.8 million barrels per day for this year, up marginally from 2016. Most of that growth is expected to come from the Permian shale basin, centered in Texas and parts of New Mexico.
