Northern (NOG) Signs Deal to Buy Texas Assets for $162M

Northern Oil and Gas NOG recently revealed that together with another independent operator Vital Energy, it has agreed to buy certain non-operated properties of privately held upstream company, Forge Energy II. Per the deal terms, Northern would acquire 30% of the assets for $162 million in cash, with partner Vital Energy owning the remaining stake.

The properties — situated mainly in Ward and Reeves counties, TX — include some 10,200 net acres, 30.5 producing wells and 2.3 wells-in-progress to go with around 20 undeveloped sites. The Delaware Basin assets are expected to produce an average of 3,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day (79% oil) in the second half of 2023. With the acreage’s low operating costs, this would require just $17 million in capital spending in 2023, following the deal’s closure, which should happen sometime in June.

While Vital Energy shall operate the assets, the acquisition will add to Northern’s Permian Basin position and is expected to be immediately accretive to multiple metrics. Adding to the transaction’s value, a major portion of the output from the to-be-acquired fields has hedges in place through 2026.

Northern Oil and Gas is an independent upstream operator engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. Headquartered in Minnetonka, MN, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) firm is primarily focused on three leading basins of the United States — the Williston, Permian and the Appalachian.

3 Energy Stocks to Buy

Investors interested in the energy space might look at operators like NOW Inc. DNOW, Murphy USA MUSA and Dril-Quip, Inc. DRQ, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) currently.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

NOW Inc.: DNOW beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters. NOW has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.1%, on average.

DNOW is valued at around $958.5 million. NOW has seen its shares gain 19.6% in a year.

Murphy USA: It is valued at some $6.1 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MUSA’s 2023 earnings has been revised 2.2% upward over the past 30 days.

Murphy USA, headquartered in El Dorado, AR, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in the other. MUSA shares have gained 17.6% in a year.

Dril-Quip: It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters. DRQ has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 119.8%, on average.

Dril-Quip is valued at around $793.5 million. DRQ has seen its shares fall 20.4% in a year.

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Dril-Quip, Inc. (DRQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

NOW Inc. (DNOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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