DALLAS, October 1 /PRNewswire/ --
Harding Energy Partners, LLC, (HE Partners) of Dallas, TX, today (Sept. 30, 2008) announced its acquisition of all core Barnett Shale assets, including those of ExxonMobil, that were held by DDJET Limited LLP (DDJET), and its subsequent sale of these holdings to Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
HE Partners made the decision to sell in order to develop more fully its 146,000 net acres in the James-Limestone and 65,000 net acres in the Haynesville Shale, both in East Texas. The team is also exploring the 50,000 acres it controls in Southeast Mississippi as well as its significant lease position in West Texas.
ExxonMobil's wholly-owned subsidiary, Metroplex Barnett Shale LLC (Metroplex), was the operator for DDJET, the partnership that was established in late 2006 for development of natural gas production in Tarrant, Johnson, Ellis, Dallas, Denton, Navarro, Collin and Hill Counties. Operations have been transferred to Chesapeake at the Railroad Commission of Texas. Chesapeake has contracted with HE Partners for a transition agreement to assure the orderly handover of operations and a land services agreement for leasing and other services in the area. Continuing to lead the leasing activity is Petrocasa Energy, Inc.
The partners in HE Partners, who collectively have more than 250 years of experience in the energy industry, have led leasing, permitting, exploration, midstream and gas marketing activities in the Barnett Shale as well as in energy rich basins in East and West Texas, Mississippi and other locations across the country. They are: Virtual Geoscience Consultants, Inc. (Michael D. Burnaman); Steven J. Carter; Beacon Energy Partners, LP; Blue Dog Properties and Petrocasa Energy, Inc. (John Petropoulos); SDS-HC Oil & Gas, LLC (Stephen D. Smith); Robert S. Taylor; Ferguson Crossing Pipeline, Ltd. (J.W. Varner); R.W. (Rick) Harding, and Harding Company.
Assets acquired by Chesapeake and the purchase price were not disclosed by HE Partners. The HE Partners/Metroplex partnership came about after Harding Company identified an underutilized pipeline owned by Metroplex's parent. The pipeline extends from Keller through North Richland Hills, Arlington, Grand Prairie and Midlothian to Corsicana.
For more information go to http://www.hardingenergypartners.com.
Web site: http://www.hardingenergypartners.com
Linda Pavlik, +1-817-332-2972, for Harding Energy Partners, LLC
