Analyzing a new contender in the Central Eagle Ford.
Crescent Energy announced this past week that an agreement has been inked to acquire assets from Ridgemar Energy in the western portion of the Eagle Ford for an initial $905 million plus additional future price considerations. The deal is effective as of October 1, 2024 and is planned to close in Q1 2025. This move will continue to strengthen Crescent’s presence in the area and is part of an ongoing trend in major acquisition activity over the past 2 years. Crescent alone has spent more than $4 billion obtaining assets resulting in a net increase of 30 Mboe/d and potential undrilled locations across an additional 130 high-value acres.
Figure 1. Map showing the top four producers and Ridgemar in the Eagle Ford. Ridgemar wells are light green spots highlighted with red rings.
While Ridgemar is not part of the top 10 producers for the area, the wells will add significant oil production to complement Crescent’s gas-heavy portfolio and acreage (Figure 2). This includes an additional 20 Mboe/d (~90% liquids) and over 100 proven locations with significant margins.
Figure 2. Map showing Crescent, Javelin, and Ridgemar wells in the Western area of the Eagle Ford where the acquisition is taking place with chart showing the breakdown of gas and oil production for the two companies.
According to TGS Well Data Analytics, the combined cumulative production for Crescent and Ridgemar add up to more than 153 Mboe/d (Figure 3). Accounting for Javelin Energy’s 95 Mboe/d, which is an operating subsidiary of Crescent, would push Crescent-backed production into the lead spot for the Western region of the Eagle Ford (Figure 3). Over the entire Eagle Ford, Crescent will come in third in oil production behind ConocoPhillips and EOG Resources and second only to ConocoPhillips in gas production.
Figure 3. Production Plots showing daily boe and cumulative production for Crescent, Crescent operating subsidiary Javelin Energy, and Ridgemar compared to EOG and ConocoPhillips in the Eagle Ford.
This deal has proven Crescent’s determination to remain true to their long-term goals to expand operations in the Eagle Ford. This continuing trend of consolidation amongst giants shows no signs of slowing down as newly formed companies from mergers and acquisitions look to position themselves as strong competitors.
With TGS Well Data Analytics, this type of benchmarking and analysis can be done quickly. For more information on Well Data Analytics or to schedule a demo, contact us at WDPSales@tgs.com.