New Standard gets nod for acquisitions
UPDATE 1.25pm: New Standard Energy shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to buy producing and prospective acreage in both the Eagle Ford shale in onshore Texas and in the Cooper Basin in South Australia.
The move is part of a plan to diversify the company's assets, which have until now focused solely on its onshore Canning and Carnarvon Basin acreage in WA.
New Standard Energy Chairman Arthur Dixon said he was pleased with the level of shareholder support at today's meeting to endorse the change to the company's strategy and growth plan.
"It's not every day that we can present our shareholders with an opportunity such as this," he said.
"Making the jump from an explorer to a producer and developer is a big one and I am pleased with the support for the Company's strategy."
Drilling will begin in the Eagle Ford shale at the company's Atascosa project in Texas almost immediately, with two wells to be drilled on the same pad over the next two months.
The wells are expected to be in production by May.
New Standard's new strategic alliance partner and shareholder, Magnum Hunter Resources, will act as operator of the acreage as part of a strategic alliance, using its existing technical skillset and local knowledge base to advance production.
New Standard will also book the production and revenue from the project's first five wells backdated to an effective date of December 1 last year.
New Standard Energy managing director Phil Thick said the wells would generate immediate cashflow for the company.
"The Eagle Ford drilling campaign represents the first step in a changing landscape for New Standard," he said.
"Not only will it be the first time we work alongside the team at Magnum Hunter but it also represents our shift from solely an explorer to also being a producer and developer," he said.
New Standard shares closed up 1.5 cents, or 11.11 per cent, at 15 cents.
