Marubeni buys 35% stake in Eagle Ford shale oil, gas project

Jan. 9, 2012
Marubeni Corp. subsidiary Marubeni Eagle Ford Ltd. agreed to buy a 35% stake in the Eagle Ford shale oil and gas play from Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co.

Marubeni Corp. subsidiary Marubeni Eagle Ford Ltd. agreed to buy a 35% stake in the Eagle Ford shale oil and gas play from Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co.

“We strongly believe that the shale oil and gas play will be spreading all over the world,” Marubeni said, adding that it would expand by acquiring quality shale oil and gas assets in the US and elsewhere.

The Japanese trading house said the Texas project, which covers 52,000 acres of oil and gas leases, plans to drill several hundred wells sequentially over 5-10 years.

Marubeni and Hunt also agreed to jointly acquire additional acreage in the Eagle Ford shale oil and gas area.

Marubeni is the most recent oversea firm to buy US shale asset stakes, following purchases by China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) and Total SA.

Recently, Sinopec paid Devon Energy Corp. $2.2 billion to purchase a one-third stake in five US shale oil and gas fields, while Total paid $2.3 billion for a minority stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Ohio shale discovery.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].