Whiting Petroleum Corporation Closes Sale of a Portion of Its Big Tex Assets in the Delaware Basin for $150.1 Million

DENVER--()--Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL) today closed the previously announced sale to a private buyer of 32,182 net acres and approximately 200 net BOE per day in the Company’s Big Tex prospect area in the Delaware Basin for total consideration of $150.1 million, subject to normal adjustments. Of the total net acres, 30,821 net acres are located in Pecos County, Texas and 1,361 net acres are located in Reeves County, Texas.

Chairman and CEO James J. Volker commented, “We believe this sale will further increase our liquidity to accelerate development of our high rate of return Williston Basin and DJ Basin Niobrara assets. In addition, this transaction will bring a new operator to the area whose drilling we expect will help de-risk our remaining 41,173 net acres at Big Tex, which is composed of 30,846 net acres in Pecos County, Texas, 6,207 net acres in Reeves County, Texas and 4,120 net acres in Ward County, Texas.”

About Whiting Petroleum Corporation

Whiting Petroleum Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is an independent oil and gas company that explores for, develops, acquires and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids primarily in the Rocky Mountain, Permian Basin, Michigan, Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent regions of the United States. The Company’s largest projects are in the Bakken and Three Forks plays in North Dakota and its Enhanced Oil Recovery field in Texas. The Company trades publicly under the symbol WLL on the New York Stock Exchange. For further information, please visit http://www.whiting.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that we believe to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy, projected revenues, earnings, costs, capital expenditures and debt levels, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as we "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "should" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: declines in oil, NGL or natural gas prices; our level of success in exploration, development and production activities; adverse weather conditions that may negatively impact development or production activities; the timing of our exploration and development expenditures; our ability to obtain sufficient quantities of CO2 necessary to carry out our enhanced oil recovery projects; inaccuracies of our reserve estimates or our assumptions underlying them; revisions to reserve estimates as a result of changes in commodity prices; risks related to our level of indebtedness and periodic redeterminations of the borrowing base under our credit agreement; our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations to meet the internally funded portion of our capital expenditures budget; our ability to obtain external capital to finance exploration and development operations and acquisitions; federal and state initiatives relating to the regulation of hydraulic fracturing; the potential impact of federal debt reduction initiatives and tax reform legislation being considered by the U.S. Federal government that could have a negative effect on the oil and gas industry; our ability to identify and complete acquisitions and to successfully integrate acquired businesses; unforeseen underperformance of or liabilities associated with acquired properties; our ability to successfully complete potential asset dispositions and the risks related thereto; the impacts of hedging on our results of operations; failure of our properties to yield oil or gas in commercially viable quantities; uninsured or underinsured losses resulting from our oil and gas operations; our inability to access oil and gas markets due to market conditions or operational impediments; the impact and costs of compliance with laws and regulations governing our oil and gas operations; our ability to replace our oil and natural gas reserves; any loss of our senior management or technical personnel; competition in the oil and gas industry in the regions in which we operate; risks arising out of our hedging transactions; and other risks described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. We assume no obligation, and disclaim any duty, to update the forward-looking statements in this news release.

Contacts

Whiting Petroleum Corporation
John B. Kelso, 303-837-1661
Director of Investor Relations
john.kelso@whiting.com

Release Summary

Whiting Petroleum Corporation closes sale of a portion of its Big Tex assets in the Delaware Basin for $150.1 million

Contacts

Whiting Petroleum Corporation
John B. Kelso, 303-837-1661
Director of Investor Relations
john.kelso@whiting.com