QEP To Acquire Oil And Gas Properties In Permian Basin For Approx. $950 Mln

(RTTNews) - QEP Resources Inc. (QEP) announced its subsidiary, QEP Energy Company, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire oil and gas properties in the Permian Basin for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $950 million. The properties are located in the Midland sub-basin, primarily in Martin and Andrews counties in west Texas.

Chuck Stanley, CEO of QEP, said: "The acquisition is part of our continuing strategy to become more focused on crude oil and natural gas liquids. This acquisition allows us to leverage our competitive strength of drilling horizontal development wells in multi-pay, stacked reservoirs, and provides a ten-year inventory of crude oil drilling locations."

QEP said it expects to sell various non-core E&P assets located in the Midcontinent during the first half of 2014, allowing the company to maintain a strong balance sheet and to have adequate liquidity.

"Along with the planned separation of QEP Field Services Company, the acquisition and the anticipated asset sales will continue the company's transformation into a liquids-focused, pure-play E&P company with assets located in premier basins across North America," said Stanley.