US gas acquisitions signal Gulf coast strategy shift

摘要

US frm Chesapeake Energy’s $2.2bn bid for counterpart Vine Energy is the latest bet by the country’s large natural gas producers on the future of the Gulf coast market, signalling a shift in investment from the pipeline-constrained northeast. Chesapeake’s planned acquisition of Vine will nearly triple the company’s output from the Haynesville shale, a prolifc gas-bearing formation underlying east Texas and northern Louisiana. The combined company will have 1.6bn ft~3/d (16.5bn m~3/yr) of Haynesville production, all of which may eventually fnd a home on the nearby Gulf coast, Chesapeake says. Those supplies can feed industrial demand and US LNG export terminals.