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PatriciaCanadianon Sep 20, 2012 6:37pm
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EXXON buys in Bakken Shale, $1.6 Billion (US)
EXXON buys in Bakken Shale, $1.6 Billion (US) Reuters 10:17 a.m. CDT, September 20, 2012
(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp will buy Denbury Resources Inc's properties in the Bakken shale for $1.6 billion and the exchange of some assets as the world's largest publicly traded energy company seeks to boost its crude oil output.
Exxon shares rose 22 cents to $90.79 in early trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. Denbury shares climbed 3.3 percent to $17.27.
Exxon and other global oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell are buying more oil and gas assets in North America as they struggle to boost production in a sector where a vast amount of energy resources is located and tightly controlled by countries like Brazil and Russia.
The use of technologies like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have unlocked vast supplies of oil and gas. Output in the Bakken - which spans North Dakota, Montana and Canada - is expected to double to about 1.2 million barrels per day by 2015.
The properties being bought consist of about 196,000 net acres, with expected production of more than 15,000 oil equivalent barrels per day in the second half of this year, Exxon said.
The acquisition will increase Exxon's holdings in the Bakken region to nearly 600,000 acres, and similar purchases are expected in the future by other big oil companies