3rd UPDATE: Mitsui & Co To Invest In US Shale Gas Project
February 16 2010 - 1:53PM
Dow Jones News
Mitsui & Co. (8031.TO) said Tuesday it will invest about
$1.4 billion to take part in a shale gas development project in
Pennsylvania, in hopes of taking advantage of the growing U.S.
market for such gas.
Mitsui, which does business in everything from natural resources
to chemicals to food, is a big player in the liquefied natural gas
market. Its most profitable business division in the fiscal third
quarter ending December was energy, which includes its LNG
operations. But in response to increased U.S. production of shale
gas--deposits of natural gas trapped in shale-rock formations--the
Japanese trading company decided to make a big bet in that market
too.
Mitsui's move into the Marcellus Shale, a rapidly developing
natural gas field in Pennsylvania, New York and other states,
underscores the growing interest foreign companies have in gaining
a foothold in shale gas production. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK)
has struck a deal with Norwegian oil and natural gas company
Statoil ASA (STO) to develop the Marcellus and formed a joint
venture with the French energy company Total SA (TOT) to develop
the Barnett Shale, a natural gas-rich formation in Texas. Shales
are widely credited with creating a gas production boom in the
U.S., where shales have become a hotbed of drilling activity.
Prospective shale formations, however, are still being identified
in other parts of the world.
A U.S. joint venture Mitsui controls will take a 32.5% slice of
the interest in the project held by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC)
of the U.S., the Japanese trading firm said in a statement. Mitsui
E&P USA LLC is expected to spend between $3.0 billion to $4.0
billion over about a decade to develop its portion of the Marcellus
shale project.
Analysts with the Houston-based energy investment bank Simmons
& Co wrote in a note to clients that the pact highlights the
value of Andarko's Marcellus assets, "which has largely been
overlooked and undervalued by the street."
Anadarko has 715,000 gross acres in the Marcellus. Shares of
Anadarko recently traded 3.69% higher at $67.73.
Mitsui said it hopes "that participating in U.S. shale gas
operations, which is expected to see high growth, will help (it)
move into long-term and sustainable growth businesses."
Shale gas was once considered too costly to exploit but it has
become commercially viable thanks to innovative technologies such
as horizontal drilling and new ways of fracturing rock.
U.S. shale-gas output grew from less than a billion cubic feet a
day in 1998 to about five billion cubic feet daily last year. In
2009, the U.S. overtook Russia as the world's largest natural gas
producer.
The U.S. government, in announcing a "shale gas resource
initiative" with China in November, said that potential shale gas
production in the U.S. "has grown dramatically in recent years due
to technological advances," and "the development of shale gas is
expected to significantly increase U.S. energy security and help
reduce greenhouse gas pollution."
Mitsui & Co. had expected a few years ago that U.S. imports
of LNG would increase, but "the picture has changed" because of the
recent rise in U.S. shale gas demand, said Hiroyuki Tsurugi, a
Mitsui deputy general manager in charge of energy businesses.
However, "demand from Asia and Europe for LNG is expected to
grow. Both [shale gas and LNG] can develop," he said.
At the peak, Mitsui expects to produce between 360 million to
460 million cubic feet of shale gas a day from the Pennsylvania
project, the company said.
Anadarko said in a statement that Mitsui will earn approximately
100,000 net acres in exchange for funding 100% of Anadarko's share
of development costs in 2010 and 90% of these costs thereafter,
with an estimated completion of all obligations by 2013.
-By Kenneth McCallum and Jason Womack, Dow Jones Newswires,
813-6895-7551; ken.mccallum@dowjones.com
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