Ovintiv Traded 360,000 Oklahoma Acres for 140,000 Montney Acres and Netted $300 Million in the Exchange

Ovintiv Inc. closed the sale of its Anadarko Basin assets in Oklahoma for $3 billion on April 9, completing a two-transaction portfolio overhaul that also included the $2.7 billion acquisition of NuVista Energy Ltd. CEO Brendan McCracken stated that the Anadarko closing “completes the transformation of our portfolio and our balance sheet.” The two deals, executed in the first half of 2026, left Ovintiv as a focused two-basin operator in the Permian Basin and the Alberta Montney.

NuVista Acquisition Added 140,000 Montney Acres

NuVista Energy Ltd. was an independent Calgary-based producer listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange before Ovintiv acquired it in a cash-and-stock deal that closed February 3, 2026. NuVista is now a wholly-owned Ovintiv subsidiary, its public listing cancelled. The acquisition added 140,000 net acres in the oil-rich Alberta Montney, 70 percent undeveloped, plus 930 net 10,000-foot equivalent well locations. Projected 2026 production from the acquired assets was 100,000 BOE/d, including 25,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate, and Ovintiv forecast $100 million in annual cost synergies from combining the two Montney operations.

Anadarko Sale Covered the Acquisition and Generated Cash

The Anadarko assets sold for $3 billion included 360,000 net acres in the SCOOP and STACK plays, representing all of Ovintiv's Oklahoma acreage. February 2026 production from those assets was 90,000 BOE/d, comprising 27,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate, 240 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, and 23,000 barrels per day of NGLs. Ovintiv did not disclose the buyer. Net proceeds after closing adjustments were $2.85 billion, and $700 million of that amount went immediately to redeem 5.650 percent notes due 2028.

The Net Math: $300 Million Generated While Upgrading Acreage Quality

Ovintiv paid $2.7 billion for 140,000 Montney acres and received $3 billion for 360,000 Oklahoma acres, leaving a $300 million gross cash surplus on the two-deal exchange. The implied acquisition cost per acre was $8,333 for the SCOOP and STACK, versus $19,286 per acre for the Montney, a 131 percent premium. On a per-flowing BOE/d basis, however, the Montney proved cheaper: $27,000 per BOE/d for NuVista versus $33,333 per BOE/d for the Anadarko assets. The gap reflects the Montney's undeveloped well inventory depth, which the per-acre metric captures but per-flowing-barrel does not.

McCracken described the Montney assets as “top decile rate of return assets in the heart of the Montney oil window” at the NuVista closing. He added that the two chosen plays “uniquely position us with significant inventory duration in the two most valuable oil plays in North America.” Ovintiv also completed the sale of its Uinta Basin assets in Utah to FourPoint Resources for $2 billion in 2025, further concentrating capital ahead of the NuVista and Anadarko moves.

2026 Capital Deployed Exclusively in Two Basins

Ovintiv's 2026 capital plan allocates $875 to $925 million to the Montney, running six rigs and targeting 130 to 140 net wells. The Permian receives $1.325 to $1.375 billion, supporting five rigs and 125 to 135 net wells. Combined, the $2.25 to $2.35 billion program allocates 40 percent to the Montney and 60 percent to the Permian. No capital goes to any other basin after the Anadarko and Uinta divestitures.

The two-basin program is designed to deliver total 2026 production of 620,000 to 645,000 BOE/d, including 205,000 to 212,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate. RBC Capital Markets analyst Gregory Pardy carries a buy rating on Ovintiv stock, noting the “depth of Ovintiv’s Montney position, streamlined portfolio, strong balance sheet and enhanced shareholder returns” as drivers of a re-rating opportunity. Ovintiv is among RBC’s Global Energy Best Ideas.

Forecasters Split on Whether Prices Support the Capital Plan

Goldman Sachs set its Q3 2026 Brent crude forecast at $82 per barrel and Q4 at $80 per barrel, according to Reuters data via Investing.com. J.P. Morgan Global Research forecast a 2026 annual Brent average of $60 per barrel, driven by expectations that Hormuz shipping normalization and OPEC+ production hikes will build supply surpluses through year-end. Brent crude was at $72.36 per barrel in early Sunday session trading on July 6, according to Fortune, down 24 percent from $95.60 one month earlier. A price sustained between the two forecasts would keep Ovintiv's two-basin cash flow positive but constrain the pace of share buybacks.

Additional upside for the Montney depends partly on new export infrastructure. Alberta filed an application to develop a West Coast oil pipeline in partnership with Trans Mountain Corp. and Pembina Pipeline Corp., as covered in a prior Oil Authority report on the Alberta West Coast pipeline proposal. A one-million-barrel-per-day project reaching tidewater would give Montney producers, including Ovintiv, direct access to Asian crude benchmarks at premiums to the current Cushing-linked WTI price. That potential access is part of the long-term investment case for Alberta Montney positions over landlocked Oklahoma shale.