Pin Oak Acquires 43K Utica Acres in Northwest Pa.

AKRON, Ohio — Pin Oak Energy Partners, which last year acquired 64,000 acres of leasehold rights in the northern trend of the Utica shale in Ohio and Pennsylvania, has expanded its footprint.

Pin Oak said in a statement that it has closed a deal with SWEPI LP, a division of Royal Dutch Shell, for approximately 43,000 Utica acres in Mercer, Crawford, and Venango counties in northwestern Pennsylvania.  The acquisition expands the company’s leaseholds to 60,000 acres in Mercer County, 5,500 acres in Crawford County and 7,100 acres in Venango County.

The deal increases Pin Oak’s position to 167,000 net deep acres across the entire Utica, with 99% of those acres held by production.

“This transaction further bolsters the company’s deep Utica rights in the oil and wet gas window of the play,” said Mark Van Tyne, Pin Oak’s chief business development officer, in a statement. “The fact that the majority of the acreage is held by production affords us time to more thoroughly evaluate the region as we high grade locations for economic development.”

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. 

Last year, the company announced it had acquired 70,000 leasehold acres from multiple sources in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio, along with acreage in Mercer County. The company also acquired additional acreage in the southern portion of the play in Ohio. The company also owns more than 125 miles of midstream assets.

This latest transaction boosts Pin Oak’s net assets in Pennsylvania to 103,000 acres. The acquisition includes drilled and completed wells that have yet to come online, along with previously built well pads that are not yet drilled.

“With multiple deals in our pipeline, Pin Oak Energy looks forward to continuing to build our brand and asset base,” Van Tyne said. 

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.