Fortune Petroleum Buys Oil, Gas Property

Fortune Petroleum Corp., the Agoura Hills-based oil exploration and production company, said it has acquired an interest in 70,000 acres of natural gas- and oil-producing property in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico.

The property now produces 400 barrels of oil and 2,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day, said Fortune Chief Executive Tyrone J. Fairbanks, who added that the acquisition is expected to increase Fortune’s production and revenues by 15%. The acquisition includes a 25% interest in EnRe-1 LLC, an oil-exploration company that controls 60,000 acres in Rio Arriba County in the San Juan Basin. Fortune also acquired a 22% working interest in a separate exploration project covering 10,000 acres in the basin.

Fortune said it has committed $2.3 million toward the investment in 1994, to be funded through cash flow from operations and the company’s credit facility with the Houston office of Bank One, Texas.

Fairbanks said the purpose of the transaction is to “further the geographic diversification of Fortune’s reserves base.” Fortune’s principal properties are located in Texas and California.