Antero Resources Corporation, a Denver, Colo based oil  and gas production company,  has acquired Bluestone Energy Partners, a privately held West Virginia natural gas producer.   Antero has extensive experience in the Rocky Mountains and mid-continental US.  Founded in 2003 by Paul Rady, a geologist,  and Glen Warren, an investment banker,  the company website boasts that this private company is the 2nd largest producer in the Barnett shale play.

Ellenboro, WV based Bluestone Energy Partners, a leasing and drilling company, was headed by Sam Ross, Mike Hall and Gregory Barton, who now hold an equity position in Antero as part of the buy-out deal.  The Bluestone assets include  properties with production from 93 vertical wells and 3 horizontals wells, gathering and compression assets, and approximately 40,000 net acres in the Marcellus shale play in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.   Following the close of  this acquisition on December 1, 2010,  Antero controls approximately 168,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale play.   That’s a small number relative to the holdings of big players EQT, Range Resources  and Chesapeake Energy.  Chesapeake, for example, holds 1.3 million net acres.

Click here for full press release, including financial terms of the acquisition.