Integrated energy behemoth, Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Houston-based oil and gas company Sanchez Energy Corp. (SN) to sell operated assets in Eagle Ford in South Texas.
Following the news, Sanchez Energy's shares jumped around 9% in the after-hours trading session but there was no impact on Shell’s stock price.
Shell mentioned that it would sell its entire stake, spread across 106,000 net acres, located in Dimmit, LaSalle, and Webb Counties, TX. The deal, expected to close toward the end of the current quarter, would involve cash transaction of about $639.0 million. The effective date of the agreement is Jan 1, 2014.
A total of about 176 operated producing wells and other related facilities are included in the deal. The assets under consideration had a net production of 24,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day – 60% liquids – in the first quarter of 2014.
Shell stated that this asset sale follows its North America portfolio restructuring plan. Other prior divestments by Shell include the sale of properties in the Mississippi Lime in Kansas, Utica shale in Ohio and Sandwash Niobrara basins in Colorado.
Shell is one of the major integrated energy firms in the world with a large and diversified portfolio of development projects that offer attractive long-term opportunities. The company is now diverting capital toward exploration activities in liquid-rich shale resources and tight gas acreages, which is a positive. However, factors such as weak downstream operations, increased capital spending and high exposure to natural gas are challenges to the company.
In consistence with these views, Shell currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it is expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.
Meanwhile, one can consider better-ranked stocks from the broader energy sector such as Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL) and Encana Corp. (ECA). Both these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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