Reported by Staff

HOUSTON - Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) said Tuesday that it will buy substantially all of the Rocky Mountains oil and gas assets of Petro-Canada Resources Inc. and Suncor Energy America Inc., a unit of Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) for $494 million. The acquisition is expected to close late in the first quarter of 2010 and funding is expected to be provided through the company’s existing credit facility.

The Company estimates total proved reserves to be 53 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe), 45 percent of which are liquids and 80 percent within the liquid-rich Wattenberg field, Noble Energy’s largest onshore U.S. asset. The acquisition will add about 10 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d) or 46 million cubic feet of natural gas and 2,500 barrels of liquids to Noble Energy’s daily production base. Included in the purchase is 340 thousand total net acres, nearly 200 thousand of which are located in the Greater DJ Basin in Weld County.

Total net risked resources (proven, probable and possible) are estimated at 103 MMBoe. Noble Energy has identified several thousand projects associated with the assets being acquired, including over 2,000 Codell/Niobrara drilling locations in Wattenberg. The Company plans to add two rigs to its Wattenberg program in 2010 as a result of the transaction, increasing the Company’s operated drilling activity in the field to eight rigs. Including activity on acreage outside Wattenberg, Noble Energy expects to grow net production from the assets to approximately 20 MBoe/d by 2012, with a focus on increasing liquids contribution.

David L. Stover, Noble Energy’s President and COO, said, “The addition of complimentary drilling locations and opportunities in Wattenberg allows Noble Energy to continue to strengthen this core area. We now control a leasehold position of over 530 thousand net acres in the central DJ Basin with net production approaching 52 thousand barrels equivalent per day. Utilizing our technical and operational expertise, we now have an even larger platform from which to unlock further potential in the Wattenberg field and the overall basin.”