Utica Driller Devon Energy Picks Up 2 New Board Members
Devon Energy announced earlier this week that they’ve added a pair of drilling industry veterans to their board of directors. The additions are “immediate” and include Barbara M. Baumann, 58, a former BP Amoco executive who currently serves as president and owner of Cross Creek Energy Corporation, and John E. Bethancourt, 62, a retired Chevron executive. Devon is a major acreage holder in the Utica Shale with 157,000 acres under lease.
Does this sudden, with no warning, addition signal problems or issues? We don’t think so, but we don’t know. We haven’t come across any scuttlebutt about Devon–they seem to be doing well, focusing largely on oily shale plays, including the Utica. A couple of years ago the company picked up $2.2 billion from Chinese oil major Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration Production Corp. in a joint venture deal (see China Makes $2.2B Investment in U.S. Shale, Including Utica). Last October Devon more or less bought out Crosstex Energy (see Crosstex Energy Gets a Name Change, Merger with Devon Proceeds). Seems like everything is going well, full speed ahead with no corporate raiders lurking in the background. Whew. Here’s the board announcement from earlier this week:
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On Wednesday Devon Energy Corp. confirmed it’s selling off all of its holdings in both the Ohio Utica and Louisiana Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. Between the two shale plays, the company is hoping to raise about $3 billion. Devon’s Utica Shale holdings include 244,000 gross acres (195,000 net) in eastern Ohio in the liquids-rich portion of the play. Devon has hired Scotiabank’s Scotia Waterous (USA) Inc. M&A division to handle the sale. A map of Devon’s eastern Ohio Utica property is embedded below.