New company formed to explore Gulf

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

Comstock Resources said it contributed about 300 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent reserves to help form a new company called Bois d’Arc Energy LLC, a limited partnership which intends to focus on exploring, developing and producing in the Gulf of Mexico.

The new independent also will assume about $102.7 million in Comstock debt, Comstock said July 19, adding that for its contribution it will receive a 59.9 percent equity interest in Bois d’Arc Energy.

Bois d’Arc Resources Ltd. and its two principals owners, Wayne Laufer and Gary Blackie, also contributed to Bois d’Arc interests in their Gulf of Mexico properties and certain related debt, together with their interests in Bois d’Arc Offshore Ltd.

Other undisclosed parties with working interests in the same properties also are expected to contribute their interests to the new company, Comstock said.

In addition, Comstock said it made available to Bois d’Arc a $200-million revolving line of credit, $152 million of which is expected to be outstanding after all parties have contributed their interests. Also, the existing exploration venture between Comstock and Bois d’Arc Offshore has been terminated.

Comstock’s partnership with Bois d’Arc Offshore dates back to 1997. “We expect the new venture will be even more successful in exploring for oil and natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico,” said M. Jay Allison, Comstock’s chief executive officer.

However, Comstock said that if the new company does not complete a financing transaction which generates sufficient proceeds to repay all of the amounts outstanding under the Comstock credit facility by Dec. 1 of this year, it would be dissolved and liquidated “in a manner to put the contributors in a position as near as possible to the same economic position that they would have been in if they had never formed Bois d’Arc.”