Debt-ridden Ovintiv Inc said it will sell its Eagle Ford assets in Texas to Validus Energy for $880 million, as the oil and gas producer seeks to shore up its finances following a tumultuous year for the energy industry.
Ovintiv moved its headquarters from Canada to the United States in 2020 in the hopes of better access to capital. But a pandemic-driven crash in oil prices last year pushed away investors from the shale industry, forcing companies to look at asset sales and mergers for survival.
Oil prices have recovered since as OPEC and its allies made record output cuts.
With crude prices well above their 2020 lows, “there is a pool of private-equity backed companies looking for opportunities in lower growth” oilfields including the Eagle Ford in south Texas and Bakken in North Dakota, said Enverus M&A analyst Andrew Dittmar.
Source: Reuters
By Arundhati Sarkar
