Denver-based hopes to cut its $1.1 billion debt by more than half by selling most of its holdings in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and the remainder of its Gibson Gulch assets in the Piceance Basin in northwest Colorado.
Barrett also said it is acquiring 7,856 acres in the Northeast Wattenberg area of Colorado, which it said will complete the company’s transition to “a growth-oriented oil development company.”
The purchase increases Barrett’s holdings in northeast Weld County by about 20 percent.
The company did not disclose the buyer, but Houston-based said it will purchase the Piceance properties for $525 million.
Barrett said the total value of the transactions is $757 million and includes $568 million in cash proceeds. The deals are expected to reduce Barrett’s debt to about $450 million. As a result of the transactions, Barrett said it expects oil to make up 70 percent of is 2014 production.
CEO Scot Woodall said the company is already getting good results in the Northeast Wattenberg.
“The acquisition … positions us to have greater operating control and enables us to accelerate drilling and extract ore value from this core area.”
