Making the Aneth Field greater: when Resolute Natural Resources Co. and Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Co. teamed to purchase Greater Aneth Field assets, a historic field was reborn, a company was made and a partnership was formed.(ANATOMY OF A DEAL)

Publication: Oil and Gas Investor

Publication Date: 01-JUL-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Hart Publications, Inc.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the Greater Aneth Field divested by Chevron Corp. in November 2004 was exquisite the moment it landed in the hands of Denver-based Resolute Natural Resources Co. and Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Co. (NNOG).

Discovered in the late 1950s, the southeastern Utah field was huge in its time, producing 100,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak. When Resolute and NNOG began looking at the field, it was a shadow of its former self, with production down to l 0,000 barrels per day. The output limited the field's importance to a major oil like Chevron, but to Resolute and NNOG, the asset was full of company-making potential.

The Greater Aneth Field, in the Paradox Basin in San Juan County, Utah, encompasses approximately 48,000 acres. Since its discovery, it has produced in excess of 430 million barrels of high-gravity, sweet crude oil. Last fall, at the time of the acquisition, Chevron' s interest represented about 25 million barrels equivalent of proved reserves, 66% developed producing and 98% oil. Net production was averaging about 3,000 barrels per day.

The field's location on Navajo Nation lands made it of interest to NNOG. "We were focused on acquiring additional interests within the Navajo Nation with a primary focus on...

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