Eclipse Resources Acquires The Oxford Oil Company in the Utica Shale

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., June 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Eclipse Resources I, LP ("Eclipse Resources") announced today that it has acquired The Oxford Oil Company, LLC, with approximately 184,000 net acres in Ohio and 13.8 Bcfe of proved developed producing reserves. The Oxford Oil Company, LLC ("Oxford") was subsequently renamed to Eclipse Resources – Ohio, LLC and will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Eclipse Resources. In conjunction with the acquisition, the company has completed a private offering of $300 million of senior unsecured notes with the ability to sell an additional $100 million over the next twelve months to the note acquirers.

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Prior to the acquisition, Eclipse Resources owned approximately 41,000 net acres in Belmont, Guernsey, Monroe and Noble Counties in Ohio where the largest wells in the Utica Shale play have been reported to date. With the acquisition of Oxford, Eclipse Resources now owns approximately 90,000 net acres in these core Utica Shale counties, as well as in Harrison County, Ohio. Eclipse Resources has recently completed drilling a Utica Shale well in Monroe County with very encouraging results, and has participated in five wells in Noble County that have shown strong initial production rates and high liquids yields. The company is currently running one rig in the play, and is participating, on a non-operated basis, in operations of three additional rigs in the play.

Benjamin W. Hulburt, President and CEO of Eclipse Resources, commented, "We are extremely excited to have completed this very significant acquisition, making Eclipse Resources one of the largest acreage owners in the "core" of the Utica Shale play in southeastern Ohio. We plan to grow our operated, Utica focused rig count to up to five horizontal rigs running in the play between now and year-end 2014. We are planning a very active drilling program in Harrison, Guernsey, Noble, Belmont and Monroe Counties commencing immediately and continuing for the next several years. Concurrently, we will look to opportunistically add leases to enhance our already attractive, contiguous acreage base. While we plan to take a cautious approach to the oil window portion of the Utica Shale play, our 135,000 net acres in that portion of the fairway offer Eclipse tremendous additional upside should the industry prove the economic viability of extracting oil from the Utica Shale. With the additional equity capital that has been invested in Eclipse Resources from our partner, EnCap Investments, and through our unsecured notes offering, we are very well positioned to develop our assets and expect to realize very significant growth in the near future." Mr. Hulburt added, "We are pleased to have over 50 new Oxford employees join the Eclipse team and expect to continue to utilize their talents as we grow our business. With the acquisition, Eclipse now has an established operational center in Zanesville, Ohio. We look forward to expanding our activities in that location and continuing to add drilling, completion and production personnel."

Eclipse Resources also announced today that Marty L. Byrd will join Eclipse Resources effective July 1^st as Vice President – Land. Mr. Byrd brings over 30-years of land experience to the company and was most recently the Vice President, Land, Eastern Division – Appalachian Basin for Chesapeake Energy Corporation where he managed and coordinated the land activities that resulted in the establishment of over 600 horizontal well units and 400 horizontal wells with a 26-rig drilling program in the Marcellus Shale.

Mr. Hulburt commented, "We couldn't be more pleased to have a gentleman of Marty's caliber and experience join the Eclipse Resources team. Marty's invaluable experience in managing one of the largest land departments and drilling programs in the entire Appalachian Basin will assist Eclipse Resources greatly as we significantly scale up our drilling activities in the Utica Shale."

RBC Richardson Barr acted as financial advisor to Oxford Oil on the transaction. Jefferies LLC acted as exclusive placement agent to Eclipse Resources for the senior notes transaction, which was placed with funds and accounts, including those managed by GSO Capital Partners LP and Magnetar Capital.

About Eclipse Resources

Eclipse Resources is a State College, Pennsylvania based oil and gas company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of unconventional oil and natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, including the Utica Shale, Marcellus Shale and Upper Devonian Shales. Founded in 2011 in partnership with EnCap Investments, Eclipse Resources follows the success of the management team's proven track record in building successful oil and gas enterprises. For more information, please visit www.eclipseresources.com.

About EnCap Investments

Since 1988, EnCap has been the leading provider of private equity to the independent sector of the U.S. oil & gas industry. The firm has raised 17 institutional oil and gas investment funds totaling approximately $18 billion and currently manages capital on behalf of over 300 U.S. and International investors. EnCap professionals represent more than 250 years of experience in the energy finance and investment business and have established a reputation as an innovative, "value-added" source of private capital to the independent sector. EnCap has a proven track record having successfully invested with over 200 upstream and midstream oil & gas companies. For more information, please visit www.encapinvestments.com.

SOURCE Eclipse Resources