Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) disclosed this Monday that it will buy up another 22,000 acres in the Utica Shale area in Eastern Ohio, paying about $220 million to Windsor Ohio. A 7.8 million-share stock offering issued the same day will enable financing of the deal.
Just last December, Gulfport bought 37,000 acres from Windsor Ohio, and with this new deal—projected to be wrapped up by March—Gulfport would own nearly 128,000 acres in the Utica Shale.
Lying under the Marcellus Shale, the Utica Shale is widely believed to be very rich in oil and gas reserves. Although the Marcellus Shale is under thorough development by numerous oil and gas companies, the Utica Shale is relatively untouched as companies are just beginning to drill through to this deeper layer.
Gulfport expects to produce 21,370-22,192 barrels of oil equivalent per day, inclusive of the new acquisitions, through 2013, as Businessweek reports. The company focuses primarily on energy prospects along the Gulf of Mexico coast, though it owns acreage in Colorado as well.
It’s possible that the banks that manage the stock offering could buy an additional 1.2 million shares. Should that happen and all 8.9 million shares are sold, the company’s outstanding stock would go up by 13 percent.
