Murphy Oil Buying Shell’s Seal Lake Assets

Murphy Oil Corp., which recently announced a decision to spin off its retail and downstream operations to become a pure-play exploration firm, has made an acquisition in Canada.

The El Dorado-based oil and gas company said it has entered into an agreement with Shell Canada Energy to “purchase, for an undisclosed amount, additional interests in lands and take over as operator of Shell’s assets in the Seal Lake area of Alberta, Canada.”

According to a company statement, the agreement covers approximately 148,531 net acres, associated plant and equipment, production in the order of 2,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day and an estimated 14.0 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved and probable reserves.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Murphy Oil shares (NYSE: MUR) closed trading on Tuesday at $57.23 per share. The company's stock has traded between $43.29 and $65.60 a share during the past year.