Shale is a Big Deal

Shale gas deals are indeed a “big deal” especially if one considers all of them that have occurred in the last year and a half or so to snap up land, mostly in the US with some in Canada, to access shale reserves for producing natural gas.

An article by Reuters tracks those big deals, taking us all the way back to March of last year, when TriStar Oil & Gas and Crescent Point Energy Trust put over USD 500 million on the table to acquire territory in the “prolific” Bakken shale region from Talisman Energy Inc.

All in all, the report tallies up eight substantial investments by major energy players into shale natural gas and oil since last year. That’s a lot of activity despite falling prices for natural gas, which some big players say won’t affect their development of unconventional resources.

The reason?

Despite rumblings of environmental concerns, cheap and plentiful gas from shale is increasingly becoming a larger part of U.S. domestic energy production.



Most recently, Reliance Industries from India said it would sink USD 1.36 billion into another company with shale gas possessions, Pioneer Natural Resources.

The biggest deal cited was one which happened in December of 2009. That’s when Exxon Mobil Corp targeted the equivalent of 45 trillion cubic feet of gas from various sources including shale gas. Exxon Mobil said it would buy XTO Energy Inc for USD 30 billion in stock. Now that is a big deal.

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