Samson Oil & Gas Limited (NYSE:SSN) reported that its agreement to sell 24,166 acres in the Niobrara Shale play of Goshen County, Wyoming, has been delayed due to "the extraordinary increase in leasing activity" in the region.
The up to $79 million transaction has been delayed from its June 24 closing because of the increased traffic in the small land title record office in Torrington, Wyoming. Because of the massive interest in leases in the region, a time rationing program has been put into practice to ensure that all those interested will receive equal access to the records.
Because of this, the buyers have been unable to complete due diligence on the land titles connected to the Samson leases.
Because of the delay, Samson’s buyer has agreed to pay the company $10 million on Aug. 5, 2010, and pay the rest of the balance of the cash on a final closing date of Sept. 5, 2010.
Samson is a part of a joint venture that holds 144,000 acres with two prospective formations in the Hawk Springs project area of the Denver-Julesberg Basin in southeastern Wyoming. The D-J Basin is part of the Niobrara Shale Formation, which has seen increased production due to horizontal drilling.
