Jericho Oil Corp. (JCO:TSX.V; JROOF:OTC), a growth-oriented oil and gas company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, announced recently that it is acquiring an interest in 9,400 net surface acres in the Anadarko Basin STACK in Oklahoma. STACK, a major area of energy-development interest in Oklahoma, stands for Sooner Trend Anadarko basin Canadian and Kingfisher counties.
The company has the option to invest up to $9 million in acquisition and development capital to acquire just under one-third of the joint venture that owns the assets.
Jericho Oil highlighted the following features of the joint venture:
- 8,600 net Mississippian acres in the normally pressured oil-window of the play
- Significant high-quality resource potential with unrisked inventory of more than 160 locations
- Implied acreage value of USD$2,300/net Mississippian acre adjusting for proved developed producing (PDP) reserves
- Acreage position surrounded by substantial drilling and pooling activity targeting the Meramec and Osage formations from Alta Mesa, Chesapeake, Sandridge, Gastar as well as multiple private-equity backed operators
- Aligns with strategy to generate attractive returns at sub-$50/bbl
The joint venture was able to acquire the rights at a much lower cost than many of its neighbors; its implied acreage acquisition cost of $2,300/net Mississippian acre adjusted for PDP compares to as much as $15,000–$20,000 per acre that major players have paid in this area of the STACK.
Jericho CEO Brian Williamson told Streetwise Reports that its acreage is "sandwiched between several best-in-case, sizable independents, including the likes of Alta Mesa Holdings (AMR:NASDAQ), Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO:NYSE), Sandridge Energy Inc. (SD:NYSE), Newfield Exploration Company (NXF:NYSE), Continental Resources (CLR:NYSE), Gastar Exploration (GST: NYSE) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK:NYSE), which trade at much higher multiples for their STACK acreage values."
Most analysts believe that the price of oil will remain well under $100/barrel for the foreseeable future. Williamson commented, "The things we are seeing suggest that the STACK and our acreage in particular can be developed profitably with oil in the $30-35/bbl price range."
The land was drilled with conventional vertical wells in the 1950s and 1960s, but the continuing evolution of development technology has made it possible to access much more oil. The company believes that historical wells may have extracted as little as 10% of the oil.
Technical analyst Clive Maund noted on August 4 that "this relatively young company has taken advantage of the weakness of the oil price in the last several years to buy up good properties and wells, and most of the stock is tightly held by investors who are in for the long haul. It is also highly geared to the oil price on the upside."
"Jericho's structure is truly unique and gives the company a tremendous advantage. Its biggest shareholders and supporters are large U.S. family offices, including some very successful oil industry veterans. Having patient money with deep pockets has really allowed it to develop its strategy successfully. If you do a little digging through the filings of insiders you will see that the Breen Family Trust whose patriarch is Ed Breen (the CEO of DuPont) was an early investor and great supporter," Maund noted.
Maund commented on Sept. 4 that since he highlighted Jericho's fundamentals a month ago, "it has broken out into a new intermediate uptrend and advanced, without any help from the oil price, which has been falling, and despite announcing another significant funding – this funding, which is for an Oklahoma Stack acquisition, was enthusiastically taken up and had virtually no impact on the share price."
Jericho Oil, Maund concluded, "is considered to be one of the best oil investments around, so holders should stay long and new purchases are in order at this juncture. The stock trades in light but generally adequate volumes on the US OTC market, where liquidity is expected to improve as the price advances."
Want to read more Energy Report articles like this? Sign up for our free e-newsletter, and you'll learn when new articles have been published. To see a list of recent articles and interviews with industry analysts and commentators, visit our Streetwise Interviews page.
Disclosure:
1) Patrice Fusillo compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise reports as an employee. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: none. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: none.
2) The following companies mentioned in this article are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers.
4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.
5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article, until one week after the publication of the interview or article. As of the date of this interview, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Jericho Oil Corp., a company mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosures about the sources cited in this article
