Debt-ridden oil producer Ovintiv to sell Eagle Ford assets for $880 mln (updated)

Global E-Commerce Holdings

24/03/2021 19:42

(Adds details on asset sale, outlook)
    March 24 (Reuters) - Debt-ridden Ovintiv Inc  OVV.N  said it
had agreed to sell its Eagle Ford assets in Texas to Validus
Energy for $880 million, as the oil and gas producer seeks to
shore up its finances following a tumultuous year for the energy
industry.
    Ovintiv, formerly known as Encana, moved its headquarters
from Canada to the United States last year in the hopes of
better access to capital. But a crash in oil prices pushed away
investors from the shale industry and forced companies to look
at asset sales and mergers for survival.
    Reuters had exclusively reported in November that Ovintiv
was looking to sell its Eagle Ford acreage.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HZ2T9
    Ovintiv said on Wednesday, with the sale, the company has
exceeded its divesture target and anticipates year-end 2021 debt
to be below $5 billion.
    It also expects to achieve its $4.5 billion debt target in
the first half of 2022.
    Ovintiv said the winter storms in Texas and Oklahoma only
impacted the first quarter, and it expects crude and condensate
volumes to average in the range of 196,000 – 200,000 thousand
barrels (MBbls) of oil per day.

 (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli)
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