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OIL AND NATURAL GAS PROPERTIES
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022
Extractive Industries [Abstract]  
OIL AND NATURAL GAS PROPERTIES OIL AND NATURAL GAS PROPERTIES    
Acquisitions
Acquisitions of proved oil and natural gas properties and working interests are generally considered business combinations and are recorded at their estimated fair value as of the acquisition date. Acquisitions that consist of all or substantially all unproved oil and natural gas properties are generally considered asset acquisitions and are recorded at cost.
In May 2021, the Partnership closed an acquisition of mineral and royalty acreage in the northern Midland Basin for total consideration of $20.8 million. The purchase price consisted of $10.0 million in cash and $10.8 million in common units of the Partnership. The cash consideration was funded with borrowings under the Credit Facility (as defined in Note 6 - Credit Facility) and funds from operating activities. The transaction was accounted for as a business combination with the assets acquired recorded at their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. The assets acquired consisted of $4.9 million of proved oil and natural gas properties, $15.6 million of unproved oil and natural gas properties, and $0.3 million of net working capital. The Partnership had no acquisition activity during the six months ended June 30, 2022.
Divestitures
In the third quarter of 2021, the Partnership closed on the divestiture of its wholly owned subsidiary, TLW Investments, L.L.C. ("TLW"), effective September 1, 2021 for total proceeds of $0.2 million. TLW holds non-operating working interests and overriding royalty interests primarily located in Oklahoma and Texas. TLW's assets and liabilities consisted of oil and natural gas properties with a net book value of $3.0 million and asset retirement obligations with a book value of $5.7 million at the time of sale. The Partnership had no material divestiture activity during the six months ended June 30, 2022.
Farmout Agreements
The Partnership has entered into farmout arrangements designed to reduce its working interest capital expenditures and thereby significantly lower its capital spending other than for mineral and royalty interest acquisitions. Under these agreements, the Partnership conveyed its rights to participate in certain non-operated working interest opportunities to external capital providers while retaining value from these interests in the form of additional royalty income or retained economic interests.
In 2017, the Partnership entered into farmout arrangements with Canaan Resource Partners ("Canaan") and Pivotal Petroleum Partners ("Pivotal") in the Shelby Trough area of East Texas where the Partnership owns a concentrated, relatively high-interest royalty position. This area was under active development by XTO Energy Inc. ("XTO") in San Augustine County, Texas and BPX Energy in Angelina County, Texas through 2019. These farmout agreements were superseded and replaced by the new farmout agreements discussed below.
San Augustine Farmout
In March 2021, BSM and XTO reached an agreement to partition jointly owned working interests in the Brent Miller development area in San Augustine County. Under the partition agreement, BSM and XTO exchanged working interests in certain existing and proposed drilling units, resulting in each company holding 100% of the working interests in their respective partitioned units.
In May 2021, BSM and Aethon Energy ("Aethon") entered into an agreement to develop certain of the Partnership's undeveloped acreage in San Augustine County, including the working interests resulting from the partition agreement discussed above. The agreement provides for minimum well commitments by Aethon in exchange for reduced royalty rates and exclusive access to BSM's mineral and leasehold acreage in the contract area. The agreement calls for a minimum of five wells to be drilled in the initial program year, which began in the third quarter of 2021, increasing to a minimum of twelve wells per year beginning with the fourth program year. The Partnership's development agreement with Aethon and related drilling commitments covering its San Augustine County acreage is independent of the development agreement and associated commitments covering Angelina County discussed below.
In May 2021, the Partnership entered into a new farmout agreement (the "Canaan Farmout") with Canaan and in December 2021, the Partnership entered into a farmout agreement (the "Azul Farmout") with Azul-SA, LLC ("Azul"). In April 2022, the Partnership amended the Canaan Farmout and entered into a farmout agreement (the "JWM Farmout") with JWM Oil & Gas LLC ("JWM"). These agreements cover all of the Partnership's share of working interests under active development by Aethon in San Augustine County, Texas and continue for a ten year period, unless earlier terminated in accordance with the terms of the agreements. Canaan, Azul, and JWM will each earn a percentage of the Partnership's working interest in wells drilled and operated by Aethon within the contract area subject to the agreements. Canaan, Azul, and JWM are obligated to fund the development of wells drilled by Aethon in the initial program year, and thereafter, have certain rights and options to continue funding the Partnership's working interest for the duration of each farmout agreement. The Partnership will receive an overriding royalty interest ("ORRI") before payout and an increased ORRI after payout on all wells drilled under the farmout agreements. As of June 30, 2022, six wells have been spud by Aethon in the contract area subject to the Canaan, Azul, and JWM Farmouts.
The following tables present the working interests each farmout partner will earn within the contract area under the San Augustine farmout agreements:
Brent Miller Area
Farmout Partner% of Partnership's Working InterestMaximum % on an 8/8ths basis
Canaan64.0 %32.0 %
Azul20.0 %10.0 %
JWM16.0 %8.0 %
Total100.0 %50.0 %
Other Areas
Farmout Partner% of Partnership's Working InterestMaximum % on an 8/8ths basis
Canaan40.0 %10.0 %
Azul50.0 %12.5 %
JWM10.0 %2.5 %
Total100.0 %25.0 %
Angelina Farmout
In May 2020, the Partnership entered into a development agreement with Aethon to develop certain portions of the area forfeited by BPX Energy in Angelina County, Texas. The agreement provides for minimum well commitments by Aethon in exchange for reduced royalty rates and exclusive access to the Partnership's mineral and leasehold acreage in the contract area. The agreement calls for a minimum of four wells to be drilled in the initial program year, which began in the third quarter of 2020, increasing to a minimum of fifteen wells per year beginning with the third program year.
In November 2020, the Partnership entered into a new farmout agreement (the "Pivotal Farmout") with Pivotal. The Pivotal Farmout covers the Partnership's share of working interest under active development by Aethon in Angelina County, Texas and continues until April 2028, unless earlier terminated in accordance to the terms of the agreement. Pivotal will earn 100% of the Partnership's working interest (ranging from approximately 12.5% to 25% on an 8/8ths basis) in wells drilled and operated by Aethon within the contract area subject to the agreement. Pivotal is obligated to fund the development of all wells drilled by Aethon in the initial program year and thereafter, Pivotal has certain rights and options to continue funding the Partnership's working interests for the duration of the Pivotal Farmout. Once Pivotal achieves a specified payout for a designated well group, the Partnership will obtain a majority of the original working interest in such well group. As of June 30, 2022, fourteen wells have been spud by Aethon in the contract area subject to the Pivotal Farmout.
Impairment of Oil and Natural Gas Properties
Proved and unproved oil and natural gas properties are reviewed for impairment when events and circumstances indicate a possible decline in the recoverability of the carrying value of those properties. When assessing producing properties for impairment, the Partnership compares the expected undiscounted projected future cash flows of the producing properties to the carrying amount of the producing properties to determine recoverability. When the carrying amount exceeds its estimated undiscounted future cash flows, the carrying amount is written down to its fair value, which is measured as the present value of the projected future cash flows of such properties.
The Partnership recognized no impairment of oil and natural gas properties for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. See Note 5 - Fair Value Measurements for further discussion.