Magnolia Petroleum Gets Proposals To Help Drill Six U.S. Wells

U.S.-focused oil & gas explorer and producer Magnolia Petroleum PLC (MAGP.LN) Tuesday said it has received proposals to take part in drilling six low-risk, high-impact wells on the Bakken and Three Forks Sanish formations in North Dakota.

The wells operated by Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) are estimated to have a rate of return of 30% to 35% and would need oil prices of $41 per barrel to break even.

Magnolia could gain a working interest of up to 2% for three of the wells and up to 1% for the remaining three wells.

Chief Executive Rita Whittington said the wells would allow the company to increase production and reserves rapidly.

"We're looking to capitalize on this by either taking up our full participation rights or farming out a portion of our entitlement to interested parties," Ms. Whittington said. "I look forward to updating the market in due course," she said.

-Write to Philip Waller at philip.waller@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2017 04:09 ET (08:09 GMT)