Pioneer puts 640,000 acres of mineral rights up for sale

staff report
TRINIDAD — Pioneer Natural Resources, which laid off over 100 employees last month, announced last week they would be putting a block of 640,000 net acres of mineral rights up for sale.
On June 1, Pioneer had sold its Eagle Ford shale business to Enterprise Products Partners for $2.15 billion.
The acreage up for sale is in Elbert, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Bent, Crowley, Cheyenne, Lincoln, Prowers and Washington counties.  The land has been valued at over $300 per acre.  As a package deal, the mineral rights could go for $100 to $200 an acre, which could make the sale go for between $64 million to $128 million.
Bids are due on July 9, and the sale is expected to close August 14.
Potential buyers for the rights could be Anadarko Petroleum, Devon Energy, Southwestern Energy, Chesapeake Energy and Newfield Exploration.
According to Oil and Gas Investor, the next likely move on Pioneer’s part is to sell 198,000 acres of assets in northeastern New Mexico. 
The selling of these assets reflects Pioneer’s shift away from the Raton Basin and over towards the Permian Basin in west Texas.