Gastar Exploration Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its East Texas assets to Cubic Energy, Inc. for $46.0 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to close on or before June 5 2013, with a property sale effective date of January 1, 2013.

"This sale allows Gastar to redeploy capital to our higher return projects in the Marcellus Shale and Hunton Limestone," said J. Russell Porter , Gastar's President and CEO. "In conjunction with our previously announced Hunton Limestone acquisition, this transaction furthers our planned transition to a liquids rich asset portfolio."

The assets to be sold include approximately 31,800 gross (16,300 net) acres in the Hilltop area of East Texas in Leon and Robertson Counties.

Tags: Gastar Exploration Ltd.