Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Buys Barnet Shale Properties

Buyout shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said it will pay $104 million for properties in the Barnett shale in Texas, Reuters reported. The firm is buying the properties from explorer and producer Carrizo Oil & Gas. The acquisition, via KKR Natural Resources, the firm’s partnership with privately held Premier Natural Resources, marks the private equity fund’s second venture in Barnett, Reuters wrote.

(Reuters) – Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said it would buy properties in the Barnett shale in Texas from explorer and producer Carrizo Oil & Gas for $104 million.

The acquisition, done through KKR Natural Resources — KKR’s partnership with privately held Premier Natural Resources, marks the private equity fund’s second venture in Barnett.

KKR said the acquired assets contain 122.4 billion cubic feet equivalent (bcfe) of total net proved reserves and added that it expects the transaction to close by May 2011.

Located under at least 17 counties in Texas, the gas-rich Barnett shale was one of the first major North American shales to be developed.

Shares of KKR closed at $18.30 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, while those of Carrizo closed at $38.02 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)