The A&D market might be heating up in 2016, even though several deals have been kept quite so far.

On Feb. 25, another company, Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), revealed it has been at work dealing assets to cover its 2016 capex.

Range said it signed a purchase and sale agreement with an undisclosed company in early February to divest nonoperating interest in the Marcellus for about $112 million. The Fort Worth, Texas company is marketing its central Oklahoma properties as well.

The Marcellus sale includes an 23% average working interest covering about 10,900 net acres in Bradford County, Pa. Net production is about 22 million cubic feet per day. The sale equates to about $4,200 per acre assuming $3,000 million cubic feet equivalent per day, Mike Kelly, managing director of E&P at Seaport Global Securities LLC, said in a report.

Range hasn’t been the only company quietly making deals early in 2016.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) said Feb. 24 it has signed and closed agreements to divest about $1.3 billion, dealing assets from Wyoming to Texas.

RELATED: Anadarko Petroleum’s Billion Dollar Bounty: Three Deals Close Spending Gap

Both companies have plans to use proceeds from the asset sales to fund 2016 spending gaps.

As with many E&Ps this year, Range’s 2016 capex features back-to-back years of cuts. Range’s 2016 capital budget is $495 million, down 45% compared to its 2015 capex. The budget includes about $470 million for drilling and recompletions, $20 million for leasehold and renewals and $5 million for seismic, facilities and other.

Nearly all of Range’s attention will be focused on the Marcellus in 2016. Production growth is projected to be at 8-10% year-over-year, adjusted for asset sales.

The company plans to maintain its balance by keeping capex in check with its cash flow and adjusting for asset sales.

"This capital budget is aligned with expected 2016 cash flow plus anticipated proceeds from 2016 asset sales," said Jeff Ventura, Range's CEO, in a statement.

Range said it received a deposit in connection with the Bradford sale and expects it to close in the second quarter.

Range was one of the first to develop the Marcellus with the successful drilling of the Renz#1 well in Washington County, Pa., in 2004. The company has about 1 million net acres across Pennsylvania, according to its website.

Range previously dipped into its deep Marcellus inventory to reduce debt.

In December, Range closed the sale of its Nora Field assets in southwest Virginia to EnerVest Ltd. The $876 million deal included about 3,500 operated wells and about 465,000 net acres in the Nora/Haysi combined fields.

"The sale accomplished several objectives: reducing leverage, increasing liquidity, high-grading the portfolio and reducing operating and overhead costs," Ventura said.

After the sale, the borrowing base under Range's revolving credit facility remained unchanged at $3 billion with a committed amount of $2 billion.

RELATED: Range Resources Parts With Virginia Assets To Reduce Leverage

Sooner State

In the Midcontinent, Range controls a 360,000 net acre position in Texas and Oklahoma with stacked pay potential, according to its website. The company’s acreage also extends into the Granite Wash, Cleveland and Woodford shale plays, all HBP.

Since December, Range actively marketed 28,493 net leasehold acres in the Stack Play located in Blaine, Canadian, Kingfisher and Major counties, Okla.

Within the past year, the Stack has emerged as one of the most preferred plays, attracting the interest of several large-cap companies including Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN).

Emily Moser can be reached at emoser@hartenergy.com.