Natural gas and oil producer St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. (SM), Friday, said it has entered into agreements to sell the previously announced package of non-strategic Rocky Mountain oil properties in two separate transactions for a total of $267 million.
In late December 2009, the company reached a deal with Legacy Reserves Operating LP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legacy Reserves LP (LGCY), to sell the Wyoming portion of the divestiture package for $130 million.
St. Mary Land & Exploration also stated that on January 7, it entered into an agreement to sell the North Dakota portion of the divestiture package to a private buyer for $137 million.
Closing of the Wyoming transaction is expected to occur in February 2010, while the North Dakota transaction is anticipated to close in March 2010.
Further, St. Mary Land & Exploration stated that it closed the sale of all operated and non-operated properties in the Hanging Woman Basin coalbed methane project in Wyoming and Montana on December 18, 2009 in a transaction with J.M. Huber Corp.
In addition, the company has recently sold or entered into agreements to sell minor asset packages of other non-strategic properties throughout the company. The majority of those transactions are via auction. The company expects total proceeds of about $40 million from these divestitures, subject to customary closing adjustments.
Commenting on the sale, Tony Best, chief executive officer and president of St. Mary Land & Exploration, said, "The sale of these non-core properties in the Rocky Mountain region will allow St. Mary to focus its efforts on more compelling growth opportunities both in the region and throughout the Company."
Best stated that the proceeds from the sales of the properties and other minor assets, along with the company's anticipated cash flows from operations, are expected to fund the 2010 capital budget.
SM closed Thursday's trading at $37, down $0.20, on a volume of 715,500 shares.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.