HOUSTON, Texas – EOG Resources has closed on its $5.6 billion purchase of Encino Acquisition Partners, the largest volume producer of oil in Ohio’s Utica shale, according to EOG’s quarterly earnings report.

“With the close of the Encino acquisition, the Utica is now positioned as a foundational asset for EOG,” Ezra Yacob, EOG’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

“EOG has never been better positioned to create long-term value for shareholders,” he continued. “The expansion of our portfolio through the Encino acquisition, our entry into Bahrain and the UAE, as well as strong exploration progress across our domestic portfolio and in Trinidad, has significantly enhanced our industry-leading asset base.”

EOG first announced its intention to acquire Encino in early June. The deal closed Aug. 1, the company said.

Under the deal, EOG will acquire 675,000 net acres, bringing its total position in the Utica to 1.1 million net acres, representing more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The acquisition would be funded through $3.5 million of debt and $2.1 billion in cash, the company said.

The deal also expands EOG’s position in the volatile oil window of the Utica/Point Pleasant by 235,000 acres, the company said.

EAP was formed as a partnership between Houston-based Encino Energy and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The group acquired the Utica assets of Chesapeake Energy Corp. in 2018 for $2 billion.

Its subsidiary, EAP Ohio, has since amassed a significant position in the Utica/Point Pleasant shale formation and is the single largest oil producer in the Buckeye state.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, for example, EAP operated 1,068 producing wells across eastern Ohio, according to the latest data provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. In that period, the company’s wells yielded more than 4.7 million barrels, or nearly 47% of the oil produced in Ohio during the quarter. For all of 2024, EAP’s wells produced 16.586 million barrels of oil, or nearly 48% of the entire state’s output last year, data show.

EAP had locked up sizable leaseholds in Columbiana County, and in May the company drilled its first well in Mahoning County.

EOG reported adjusted net income of $1.3 billion during the second quarter, or $2.32 per share, the company said. 

Pictured at top: An Encino Energy well in Mahoning County.