OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) announced today its intent to divest
approximately $1 billion of upstream assets across its portfolio. The
non-core assets identified for monetization include select portions of
the Barnett Shale focused primarily around Johnson County and other
properties located principally within the company’s U.S. resource base.
Devon expects to commence the divestiture program in the second quarter
of 2017 and complete the sale process over the next 12 to 18 months. The
company plans to deploy divestiture proceeds toward its U.S. resource
plays and to further strengthen its investment-grade financial position.
The company’s non-core divestiture plan is also expected to accelerate
Devon’s transition to higher-margin production.
“The successful resource expansion in our world-class STACK and Delaware
Basin assets has generated an abundance of opportunities within our
portfolio,” said Dave Hager, president and CEO. “Given the multi-decade
growth platform these franchise assets provide, we are taking this
initial step to bring value forward from non-core assets and sharpen our
focus on the highest-returning growth inventory in our portfolio.
“This divestiture program, combined with our excellent liquidity and
strong hedge position, supports our capital program and places us firmly
on track to achieve our production growth targets in 2017 and 2018,”
said Hager. “Importantly, these strategic actions provide certainty for
our future capital programs and uniquely position Devon to maintain
strong operational momentum through the end of the decade.”
Growing U.S. Resource Base Provides Opportunity for Additional Asset
Sales
Given the depth of Devon’s resource base in North America’s best basins,
the company possesses highly-visible and sustainable growth
opportunities within its portfolio. This growth inventory is
concentrated in the STACK and Delaware Basin, where Devon has exposure
to more than 30,000 potential drilling locations, of which roughly one
third have been successfully de-risked.
With ongoing STACK appraisal work and further testing of the Leonard and
Wolfcamp zones in the Delaware Basin, Devon’s risked resource base in
the U.S. has the potential to further expand. With successful
delineation work, the company would evaluate strategic options for
additional non-core asset sales.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined
by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Such statements include
those concerning strategic plans, expectations and objectives for future
operations, and are often identified by use of the words “expects,”
“believes,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “forecasts,” “projections,”
“estimates,” “plans,” “expectations,” “targets,” “opportunities,”
“potential,” “anticipates,” “outlook” and other similar terminology. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this
press release that address activities, events or developments that the
Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future
are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a number
of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the
control of the Company; and other risks identified in our Form 10-K and
our other filings with the SEC. Investors are cautioned that any such
statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual
results or developments may differ materially from those projected in
the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this
press release are made as of the date of this press release, even if
subsequently made available by Devon on its website or otherwise. Devon
does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking
statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
The SEC permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC,
to disclose only proved, probable and possible reserves that meet the
SEC's definitions for such terms, and price and cost sensitivities for
such reserves, and prohibits disclosure of resources that do not
constitute such reserves. This release may contain certain terms, such
as resource potential, risked resource, potential drilling locations,
risked or unrisked locations, exploration target size and other similar
terms. These estimates are by their nature more speculative than
estimates of proved, probable and possible reserves and accordingly are
subject to substantially greater risk of being actually realized. The
SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including these estimates in
filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the
disclosure in our Form 10-K, available at www.devonenergy.com.
You can also obtain this form from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or
from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
About Devon Energy
Devon Energy is a leading independent energy company engaged in finding
and producing oil and natural gas. Based in Oklahoma City and included
in the S&P 500, Devon operates in several of the most prolific oil and
natural gas plays in the U.S. and Canada with an emphasis on a balanced
portfolio. The Company is the second-largest oil producer among North
American onshore independents. For more information, please visit www.devonenergy.com.
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Source: Devon Energy Corporation