HOUSTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) — U.S. shale company Sanchez Energy said it closed on the sale of midstream assets located in the western section of the Eagle Ford basin in southern Texas.
Sanchez said it received about $345 million in cash for its midstream, or transportation, assets in the western section of the shale basin. The company in early October announced it entered into a joint venture with Targa Resources Partners to build a gas processing plant associated with its assets in the Eagle Ford shale.
Sanchez said the transaction would give it a chance to raise cash at a time when low crude oil prices are cutting into capital expenses.
“We are not reducting our production guidance for the remainder of 2015,” Chief Executive Officer Tony Sanchez said when announcing plans for the sale.
Sanchez said his company is focusing its efforts on the Eagle Ford shale play in Texas. In the Catarina basin within the Texas shale, the company said it expects to drill all 50 of its committed wells.
Low crude oil prices leave energy companies with less money to spend on exploration and production. Some of those companies are boasting of production gains by crediting improved efficiencies in well operations.
The company earlier this year unveiled plans to cut capital spending by $50 million for the year, but still increase its production target by 4 percent, or about 2,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Sanchez reported a loss of $562.9 million during the second quarter.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said the low price of crude oil has led to a reduction in spending and a deferment of major oil projects. Crude oil prices are still high enough to support output in key shale areas like the Bakken reserve in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford basin in Texas.
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