HOUSTON, Texas (AFX) - Oil exploration and development company Swift Energy Co. said Tuesday it will buy a $20.4 million interest in the Lake Washington oil field in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, which is adjacent to the company's existing acreage in the field.
The purchase will have an effective date of Oct. 1, 2006 and will close before the end of the year.
Swift Energy will not purchase the additional oil field outright, but will buy stakes of 40 percent to 100 percent in existing oil wells in the Lake Washington field. The stakes cover 4,400 gross acres, the company said.
Swift Energy estimates that total reserves of the purchased properties are approximately 1 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of proven reserves and 1.7 million BOE of probable and possible reserves. Approximately 36 percent of the proven reserves are developed, the company said.
Development costs for all the reserves are estimated to be about $25.3 million, for a total acquisition cost of $17.23 per BOE. Current production is about 275 BOE per day.
Shares of Swift Energy dropped 43 cents to $49.16 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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