Wichita ? SandRidge Energy has traded some of its drilling rights for $1 billion to finance development of its land holdings in southwest Kansas and northern Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma City-based company says in a news release that it was selling rights to 363,636 acres. Repsol YPF, an energy company based in Spain, will pay SandRidge $250 million in cash and $750 million for development.

The Wichita Eagle reports (http://bit.ly/s1Ms15) that SandRidge expects to spend the $750 million within three years. The joint venture will exclude all wells and acreage in the covered area drilled before Jan. 1 and all wells and acreage associated with SandRidge Mississippian Trust I.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter, subject to some closing conditions.