Private equity-backed Qstar is preparing to bring in a rig to begin a horizontal drilling programme later this month on US onshore acreage that it recently acquired from another privately held operator Endeavor Energy Resources.

Qstar, which is sponsored by EnCap Investments, paid Endeavor $359 million for 17,645 acres spread across Howard and Martin counties in Texas in the Midland sub-basin of the Permian basin.

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