Deal Making Continues in US Shales

The rising interest of Asian oil companies in the U.S. shale boom continues with news that Korea National Oil Corp. has signed a $1.55 billion joint-venture agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for one-third of its Maverick Basin assets in southwest Texas for approximately $1.55 billion.

“We are very pleased to welcome KNOC as our partner in this development and hope we will be able to pursue other investments together in the future,” Anadarko President and Chief Operating Officer Al Walker said in a statement.

Under the agreement, KNOC will get about 80,000 net acres in the oil-rich Eagle Ford shale and about 16,000 additional acres in the gas-rich Pearsall Shale.

Dow Jones reported that analysts with Raymond James estimated the deal implies KNOC is paying about $15,000 per acre, which represents the highest price per acre paid to date in the Eagle Ford, where recent deals were completed for up to $12,000 per acre.

The South Korean government said in a statement that, by cooperating with Anadarko, which has advanced technology in the area of shale oil, the country “has secured a bridgehead for more business [opportunities] in unconventional oil development in North America.”

In January, Chesapeake Energy Corp. sold part of its assets in the Niobrara Shale formation in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming for $1.3 billion to China's biggest offshore oil producer, Cnooc Ltd.