Zephyr Energy (AIM:ZPHR) has acquired 27,000 acres of new Federal and state leases in Utah's Paradox Basin, doubling its acreage footprint around the White Sands Unit and bringing its total operated position in the basin to approximately 70,000 gross acres.
The AIM-listed, Rocky Mountain-focused oil and gas company paid for the acquisition from existing cash resources, without disclosing the cost. Around 24,000 acres were secured through a Bureau of Land Management competitive lease sale with ten-year primary terms; the remaining acreage came via direct negotiation with the Utah Trust Lands Administration on five-year primary terms.
The new leases sit contiguously to the south and west of the White Sands Unit and are expected to carry similar Paradox Formation reservoir conditions to those already confirmed within the unit, which holds independently assessed 2P reserves of 35.3 million barrels of oil equivalent. The acreage also carries additional helium exploration potential below the Paradox Formation.
Chief executive Colin Harrington said the acquisitions come "at a critical stage" in the company's ongoing Paradox project farm-out discussions, adding that the enlarged position "will significantly enhance the commercial value of the Paradox project."
Separately, Zephyr confirmed the closure of two previously announced disposals of non-core undeveloped acreage in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, generating net proceeds of approximately $2.2 million; that acreage had originally formed part of a $7.3 million portfolio acquisition completed in August 2025.
