BG Group may gain from EXCO Resources purchase of stakes in two US shale plays

摘要

Dallas-base EXCO Resources has agreed to purchase stakes in Haynesville and Bossier shale gas reserves in East Texas from Southwestern Energy for $355 million, and has allowed BG Group the opportunity to buy 50% of the acquisition.A BG Group spokesman told Gas Matters Today the 50% opportunity was “under consideration” and did not provide any further details about the purchase.“Assuming BG Group participates in the acquisition, Exco and BG Group will each double their working and net revenue interests in much of the Common acreage," Exco said in a statement.Last June, BG Group made its first entry into US shale gas production when the company agreed to pay $1.3 billion for a 50% joint venture stake with EXCO to develop shale gas resources in east Texas and north Louisiana - 120,000 acres of land of which 84,000 net acres cover the Haynesville shale gas formation. The agreement included access to net production of nearly 95 MMcf/d of gas from the Cotton Valley and other shallow rights, plus an additional 60 MMcf/d from the Haynesville shale play. BG Group also gained a 50% interest in EXCO’s related and complementary gas-gathering and transportation assets for $249 million (see Gas Matters Today, June 30, 2009).BG Group entered into a second joint venture with EXCO last month, with the purchase of a 50% stake in EXCO’s interests in the Appalachian Basin for $950 million. These include the companies that hold EXCO’s producing and non-producing assets in the Appalachian Basin, located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, as well as acreage in the Huron and Marcellus shale plays. BG Group also gains a 50% share in a total of 654,000 net acres in the Appalachian Basin. EXCO and BG Group will form two 50/50 joint ventures, one to operate upstream assets, and the other to invest in mid-stream gas gathering and transportation. (See Gas Matters Today, May 10)The huge US shale plays continue to attract foreign investment. Exploration and production of natural gas from US shale plays in the last few years have changed estimates of US gas resources from 30 to 100 years, making the US an attractive investment for foreign companies. –TR