The scramble for shale is gaining momentum. With shale gas accounting for an ever larger share of US natural gas production, international oil companies are queueing up to buy vast tracts of American land – and US companies are lining up to sell it to them. Yesterday’s announcement that Total of France has created a $2.3bn shale gas joint venture with Chesapeake Energy and EnerVest, a smaller local investment partner, illustrates the trend perfectly. The deal further rebalances Total’s portfolio and enables Chesapeake to monetise a valuable but sprawling asset.
對頁巖的爭奪正呈現出愈演愈烈的趨勢。隨著頁巖氣在美國天然氣產量中占據的比重進一步增加，跨國石油企業如今正爭先恐后購入大片大片的美國土地——美國企業則爭先恐后地向它們出售土地。法國道達爾(Total)近日宣布，它與美國切薩皮克能源公司(Chesapeake Energy)及當地的小型投資伙伴EnerVest組建了一家23億美元的頁巖氣合資企業。這一消息清晰地反映出了上述趨勢。該交易不僅幫助道達爾進一步實現了資產組合的再平衡，也使切薩皮克得以將一塊頗具價值卻缺乏有序開發的資產成功變現。