JAPEX agreed, through its US subsidiary Peoria Resources, to buy all of Verdad Resources Intermediate Holdings, which operates tight oil and gas assets in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado and Wyoming. JAPEX aims to lift output from the assets from about 35,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. It expects the deal to add about ¥20 billion to operating profit in the fiscal year to March 2027. The deal JAPEX bought 100% of Verdad Resources Intermediate Holdings from Verdad Resources Feeder LLC through Peoria Resources Acquisition Company, a unit managed by its US subsidiary Peoria Resources. The price was put at about $1.3 billion, or about ¥204 billion, at signing. At completion the transaction reflected an enterprise value of about $1.26 billion. JAPEX said it would pay with cash on hand and borrowings, and Peoria set up a new reserve-based loan facility at closing, moving the acquired hedge book to banks in that facility. Wells Fargo Securities was exclusive financial adviser to Peoria and Willkie Farr & Gallagher its legal counsel. J.P. Morgan Securities was financial adviser to Verdad, and Kirkland & Ellis its legal counsel. JAPEX disclosed completion on February 27, 2026, Japan time. About the assets The assets lie mainly in northeastern Colorado, with additional interests in southeastern Wyoming, and include about 101,000 net acres of horizontal Niobrara and Codell development. Production of about 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day is 49% light oil, 24% natural gas liquids and 27% natural gas. More than 1,000 wells are producing, with about the same number planned. Many of the assets are operated, which gives JAPEX its first operated position in the US. Strategy Before this deal, JAPEX's US exposure was non-operated stakes in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas, held since 2012, and the Woodford shale in Oklahoma. In April 2026 it published a 10-year plan to 2035 with ¥1.5 trillion of growth investment, aiming to raise output from about 45,000 to 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and lift return on equity to 12%. The plan names the US, Norway and Southeast Asia as priority regions, and Reuters reported that more than half of overseas exploration and production spending would go to the US. Follow-on deal On August 6, 2026, JAPEX agreed to buy all equity in four Fundare Resources companies with tight oil and gas assets in Colorado and Wyoming for about $320 million. Peoria will fund it with its own cash and a reserve-based loan. Fundare later announced that it had completed the sale of its operated business in the DJ Basin and Wyoming's Green River Basin to Peoria.
