From a purely A&D perspective, Devon Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: DVN) tradecraft may have few rivals.

On June 6, Devon said it had three deals inked to sell noncore upstream assets in East Texas, the Anadarko Basin and an overriding royalty interest in the northern Midland Basin for $1 billion.

The buyers in the three separate deals were not disclosed. The deals are not expected to change the company’s capex or production. But once again they seem to put Devon in the right place and the right time.

“Combined with other recent asset sales, we have now announced $1.3 billion of gas-focused upstream divestitures. As we’ve said previously, proceeds from these tax-efficient transactions will be utilized to further strengthen our investment-grade financial position,” said Dave Hager, president and CEO. “With oil prices having moved in our favor throughout the sales process, we are encouraged by the interest and progress in marketing our remaining non-core oil assets in the Midland Basin and Access Pipeline in Canada.”

Devon said it is in advanced negotiations to sell its 50% interest in the Access line with an announcement coming in the next several weeks.

The company is also marketing working interest in about 15,000 net undeveloped acres in Martin County, Texas, in the Midland Basin. The assets produce about 25 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d), Wells Fargo Securities said. The company’s overriding royalty interests came from the acreage, but should not affect its estimated sales prices of at least $225 million, Morgan Stanley Research said.

After its $1.9 billion January deal to buy Felix Energy’s Anadarko Basin Stack acreage, Devon alienated some of its shareholders. With net debt of $7.7 billion, roughly two-thirds of sales proceeds will be directed to reducing debt, which could fall as much as 30% as a result, Barclays Equity Research said.

Following the transactions, Devon expects to have $5 billion in liquidity. In May, the company reported liquidity of $4.6 billion.

The company said it would dispose of $2 billion in assets and possibly up to $3 billion as it worked to reduce debt. Along with its Mississippi Lime sale, the company has so far made agreements to sell $1.3 billion in noncore, gassy assets.

The sales accelerate repairs to the company’s balance sheet repair and improve net debt/EBITDA pro forma for the transaction to 2.8x at the end of 2017 from 4.4x at the end of 2016, said Evan Calio, analyst at Morgan Stanley.

Devon should be on track to aggressively pump accretive production growth when prices are supporting.

“This should support a faster activity ramp in Devon’s top-tier Stack and Delaware Basin assets earlier in the upcycle or provide more balance sheet protection,” Calio said, adding that Devon’s financial strengthen could allow it to separate from the mass of similar large-cap E&Ps.

Barclays’ expects Devon’s 50% interest in the Access Pipeline to attract bids in the $800 million to $1 billion range.

“Tariffs of an estimated $2.50-$2.80 per barrel range—with cash costs of about $1 per barrel suggest that Devon’s operating costs will rise $75 million to $100 million” after the sale, Driscoll said.

The timing of the transactions was ahead of analysts’ expectations. Devon had previously said first-round bid submissions were expected in June, with final agreement announcements following at midyear, at the earliest, Calio said.

“The trade-off appears to be that prices received are modestly lower than our guidance,” he said.

However, some analysts were impressed by the prices that Devon has commanded for its acreage.

Barclays said it now expects Devon’s upstream asset sales will total about $2.5 billion and that Devon was able to command more for its East Texas and Granite Wash acreage than the $600 million to $850 million analysts had anticipated.

“The sale of its northern Midland Basin overriding royalty interest comes as a surprise to us, fetching $139 million for only 1 Mboe/d of production covering royalties over 11,000 net acres,” Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) said. TPH estimates that the acreage is mostly undeveloped.

For a company that has made major acquisitions the past few years, Devon appears to have a waning appetite for more. In addition to its Stack acquisition, Devon spent $6 billion to acquire Eagle Ford acreage. The company also has a 585,000-acre position in the Delaware Basin.

As prices eventually climb higher, Devon’s ultimate goal will be a focus on balance sheet repair rather than increasing capital spending as prices rise, Barclays analyst Thomas Driscoll said. The company with a broader E&P space is more inclined to cut budgets and rely on advancing technology rather than corporate acquisitions.

“Acquisitions may not offer enough synergy or balance sheet improvement to justify the multiples that may need to be paid,” Driscoll said. “In addition, Dave Hager shared his view that many financially distressed companies lack the superior assets that would make them attractive takeover targets.”

Jefferies LLC acted as the lead financial adviser to Devon on the transactions. RBC Richardson Barr also acted as a financial adviser to Devon. Vinson & Elkins LLP acted as legal adviser to Devon.

Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.