• Encana Corp., Calgary, (TSX & NYSE: ECA) has agreed to sell two gas-processing plants servicing the Cutbank Ridge area to Veresen Inc. (TSX: VSN) for approximately C$920 million. The sale includes Encana’s 100% interest in its Steeprock plant in northeast British Columbia and its Hythe plant in northwest Alberta, along with compression and associated gathering pipelines.

• Vanguard Natural Resources LLC, Houston, (NYSE: VNR) has closed its purchase of Encore Energy Partners LP, Houston, (NYSE: ENP) for approximately $921 million.

Vanguard issued 0.75 Vanguard common unit per Encore unit for a total issue of 34.1 million units. Cash will be paid to Encore unit-holders in accordance with the merger agreement in lieu of any fractional units they otherwise would have been entitled to receive.

Encore is now a subsidiary of Vanguard.

Encore Energy Partners, with its subsidiaries, has assets primarily in the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming and Montana; the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana; the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico; and the Arkoma Basin in Arkansas and Oklahoma. As of year-end 2010, the company had 1,112 operated wells and 1,653 nonoperated wells.

Total proved reserves as of year-end 2010 were 28.7 million stock tank bbl. of oil and 74.5 billion cu. ft. of gas.

Jefferies & Co. Inc. was financial advisor to Encore. RBC Capital Markets was financial advisor to Vanguard. Legal advisors were Vinson & Elkins LLP for Vanguard, Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP for the Vanguard conflicts committee, and Bracewell & Giuliani LLP and Richards, Layton & Finger PA for the Encore conflicts committee.

• TPH Partners has sold substantially all of the assets of its portfolio company, privately held, Midland, Texas-based

Storm Peak Energy LLC, to an undisclosed private company for an undisclosed price. The company’s Permian Basin properties in Culberson County, Texas, include 3,392 acres of Delaware Mountain group producing leasehold and approximately 1,000 acres of deeper rights prospective for the Brushy Canyon, Avalon/Bone Spring and Wolf-camp horizons. Storm Peak acquired the Delaware Basin properties in February 2010 and, through an active workover and drilling program, increased daily oil production by more than 230% in less than two years, according to TPH.

• EnerJex Resources Inc., San Antonio, (OTCBB: ENRJ) has exercised its option to acquire a 90% working interest in certain oil producing properties adjacent to the company’s existing Black Oaks project in Kansas. The assets include working interest in 720 acres that produce oil from the Mississippian formation. EnerJex also may acquire a 90% working interest in 1,280 additional adjacent acres upon fulfilling drilling milestones.

In total, the additional acreage nearly doubles EnerJex’s exposure to its Mississippian oil play in Kansas to 4,100 acres. The company’s existing Black Oaks project holds 1.4 million net bbl. of proved oil reserves.

• EDF Trading North America LLC, the trading group for French-owned power conglomerate EDF SA, plans to acquire an overriding royalty interest in certain long-lived producing assets in the Haynesville/Bossier layer in East Texas from GMX Resources Inc., Oklahoma City, (NYSE: GMXR) for $50 million in a volumetric-production-payment deal.

The VPP involves assets in Harrison County and approximately 14.8 billion cu. ft. to be produced over the next 94 months, commencing from Jan. 1, 2011.

GMX will retain all of its oil and NGL production associated with the VPP interests and all of its undeveloped locations. Production of natural gas from the properties attributed to the VPP for 2012 will be approximately 4 billion cu. ft. The deal was expected to close before year-end.

• Aurelian Oil & Gas Plc, London, (London: AUL) plans to enter a joint venture with Luxembourg-based investment company Kulczyk Investments SA for oil and gas activities in Poland. The agreement will establish a strategic partnership with KI to jointly originate and invest in upstream oil and gas opportunities in Poland and to cooperate in gas marketing, procurement of oilfield services and, in time, the procurement of midstream processing and production infrastructure.

Kulczyk is 13.7% shareholder in Aurelian. Aurelian will operate all licenses that the partnership co-invests into, with KI bringing significant capital and downstream and gas-commercialization capabilities to the venture.

• American Standard Energy Corp., Scottsdale, Ariz., (OTCBB: ASEN) has agreed to acquire approximately 80,000 net acres across the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford shale formation and the Eaglebine in Texas, the Williston Basin in North Dakota, the Niobrara shale formation in Wyoming and Nebraska, and the Mississippian shale formation in Oklahoma . The company anticipates that the transaction will also include some 300 BOE per day on existing held-by-production acreage.

The company intends to fund the acquisition primarily by issuing common stock, a promissory note, and minimal cash at closing. The transaction was expected to close by year-end 2011.

• Earthstone Energy Inc., Denver, (Nasdaq: ESTE) sold its Antenna-Federal property in Weld County, Colo., to an undisclosed unrelated third party. The aggregate purchase price was $6.2 million. The Antenna-Federal property is a single, 640-acre section in Wattenberg Field, in which Earthstone had interests in 38 producing natural gas wells. Earthstone owned between 15% and 60% working interest in 25 wells and had an overriding royalty interest in 13 wells. In addition, some working interest wells also contained an overriding royalty interest.

The property represents substantially all of Earthstone’s Colorado properties.

• Lucas Energy Inc., Houston, (NYSE Amex: LEI) has closed its previously reported purchase and sale agreement with

Nordic Oil USA 1 LP for Nordic 1’s right, title and interest in oil, gas, and mineral leases in Wilson, Gonzales and Karnes counties, Texas. The property interests acquired represent all of Nordic 1’s interests in the LEI 2009 II and III Capital Programs.

Additional news

• Houston-based LRR Energy LP priced its initial public offering of 9.4 million common units representing limited partner interests at $19 each for a total raise of some $178.7 million on the NYSE as LRE.

LRR Energy was launched in April as an affiliate of Houston-based private-equity firm Lime Rock Resources. The IPO is on the lower end of $19 to $21 per unit. Lime Rock previously filed an IPO for the entity in May with an intended raise of up to $280 million. The offering had been expected to close in November 2011.

LRR Energy’s properties are in the Permian Basin region in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the Mid-continent region in Oklahoma and East Texas and the Gulf Coast region in Texas. Average net production as of June 30, 2011, was 6,133 BOE per day. Proved reserves as of March 31 were approximately 30.3 million bbl. equivalent (84% proved developed reserves).

LRR Energy’s general partner, LRE GP LLC, is controlled by Lime Rock Management LP. Pro forma, the public will own a 42% limited partner interest in LRR Energy, or a 48.3% limited partner interest if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full.

Wells Fargo Securities, Raymond James, Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets are joint book-running managers. Baird, Oppenheimer & Co. and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel are co-managers for the offering.

• Vanguard Energy Corp., Houston, (OTCBB: VNGEU) completed a $4.8-million initial public offering of 4.8 million units at $1 per unit. Each unit consisted of one share of common stock and one five-year warrant to purchase one share of common stock at $1.50.

Paulson Investment Co. Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Paulson Capital Corp., served as lead manager of the offering.

The units began trading under the symbol “VNGEU” on the OTCBB on Nov. 29, 2011, and were to trade as a unit for a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 45 days, unless Paulson Investment determined that an earlier date was acceptable. Once the units split, the common shares will trade under the symbol “VNGE” and the warrants will trade under the symbol “VNGEW,” also on the OTCBB.

• Houston-based Post Oak Energy Capital LP announced a $200 million commitment from The University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO) in its role as investment manager for the benefit of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University Systems.

Post Oak pursues private-equity investments primarily in the upstream sector in North America and, to a lesser extent, in oilfield services and related infrastructure. Funding from Post Oak will be used for corporate growth capital, development acceleration, acquisitions and recapitalization purposes.

• TC PipeLines LP, Houston, (Nasdaq: TCLP) is transferring the listing of its common units to the NYSE. The partnership expected that its common units would commence trading on the NYSE under the new symbol “TCP” on Dec. 12, 2011.

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