Independent oil and gas producer
Noble Energy Inc.
(
NBL
) completed the sale of some of its oil and natural gas properties
in the Permian Basin to Houston based oil and gas company Sheridan
Holding Company II, LLC. The proceeds from the sale of assets
come to $309 million.
The deal for the sale of assets was announced in July 2012. The
assets, which were sold to Sheridan Holding Company, have
production capacity of roughly 1,500 barrels of oil equivalent per
day.
Again, in August, Noble Energy decided to divest its Kansas oil and
natural gas assets to a unit of privately owned Citation Oil &
Gas Corporation for a sum of $140 million.
The decision to divest these assets is in sync with the company's
long-term strategy. Noble Energy has decided to gradually move out
of its non-core properties and use the proceeds to develop its core
operations. Noble's core operations are mainly based in the U.S.
with some of it in offshore Eastern Mediterranean, and offshore
West Africa.
Noble Energy registered growth in the sales volume in the second
quarter of 2012, with sales expanding 10.0% from the year-ago
quarter to 224 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d).
The company also raised its 2012 volume guidance at the midpoint by
2 MBoe/d on a pro forma basis. The new 2012 volume range is at 236
Mboe/d to 244 Mboe/d. A solid performance from existing assets will
help the company to meet the enhanced expectation.
We believe the decision to concentrate more on its core operations
and development of the international projects would yield the
desired results as demand for oil and gas is on the rise. The Zacks
Consensus Estimates for the third quarter and full-year 2012 are
currently at $1.05 per share and $4.99 per share, respectively.
Noble Energy retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a
short-term Hold rating. One of its peers is
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
(
APC
).
Based in Houston, Texas, Noble Energy operates internationally and
engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production,
and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.
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