HOUSTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Parts of the shale basin in oil-rich Texas will be left behind in order to focus more on deepwater and other assets, Anadarko Petroleum announced.
The company said it 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.
Al Walker, the top executive at Anadarko, said Eagle Ford will remain a central component of the U.S. energy picture.
"The ongoing success of our portfolio-management activities provides us with the flexibility to further accelerate capital investments in our higher-return oil opportunities in the Delaware Basin, the DJ Basin, and the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which drive our ability to deliver a 12- to 14-percent five-year compounded annual oil growth rate," he said in a statement.
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That leaves Anadarko with holdings primarily in Colorado and offshore. The company last year said it planned to cut spending by almost 40 percent and, by the first quarter of 2016, had already sold off about $2 billion in assets.
In December, the company sold off its holdings in the gas-rich Marcellus shale basin to Alta Resources Development for about $1.24 billion. Retooling for the company, however, included the $2 billion acquisition of Freeport McMorRan's operations in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The company, however, reported a net loss for the third quarter of $830 million.
Anadarko's asset reconfiguration was a net positive for Sanchez Energy, which said the deal for Eagle Ford would more than double its drilling inventory. Sanchez last year said it aimed to increase its spending on exploration and production by up to $50 million, which it said would translate to a production increase of between 5 percent and 7 percent in 2017.
