EXCO spends $1B on Chesapeake Energy assets

  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — EXCO Resources Inc. of Dallas is spending about $1 billion to acquire assets from Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Texas and Louisiana. The land provides EXCO with producing fields and potentially lucrative drilling sites in the future. For Chesapeake, it’s another step toward improving its cash position after the company was rattled by a plunge in natural gas prices. The Oklahoma City firm, which helped pioneer some of the techniques that tilted the energy landscape for the U.S., has been dumping assets to raise cash and diversify. After building a hefty debt burden from rapid growth, Chesapeake has said it intends to sell $4 billion to $7 billion in assets this year. “Today’s announcement brings our year-to-date asset sales signed or closed to approximately $3.6 billion, which, combined with forecasted net operating cash flow, enables Chesapeake to fully fund its 2013 capital expenditure budget,” said CEO Doug Lawler. “Additional asset sales contemplated for later this year may reduce long-term debt and further enhance our financial liquidity,” Lawler said. Chesapeake is selling about 55,000 net acres in Zavala, Dimmit, La Salle and Frio counties in Texas — part of the Northern Eagle Ford Shale. There are 120 producing wells there. It’s also selling interests in about 9,600 net acres in Desoto and Caddo parishes in Louisiana, part of the Haynesville Shale. That includes non-operating interests in 170 EXCO operated wells and operating interests in 11 wells run by Chesapeake. Chesapeake said that it will receive about 90 percent of the proceeds from the sale at closing. EXCO Resources Inc. of Dallas, said Wednesday that it expects to complete the acquisitions in July.