Reliance Industries plans second shale gas JV in US
11 Jun 2010
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is in talks with US-based oil and gas explorer Pioneer Natural Resources for forming a joint venture for developing the latter's Eagle Ford gas shale acreage in Texas.
RIL, which is seeking to create a brand for retailing gas in the US market after forming a joint venture for the highly prospective Marcellus Shale with Pennsylvania-based Atlas Energy, is looking to tie up a similar deal with Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources for its Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.
Pioneer holds 310,000 acre in Eagle Ford Shale with a gross resource potential of more than 11 trillion cubic feet equivalent.
The company has now drilled five highly-productive wells across its acreage at Eagle Ford Shale and has the development potential for 1,750 identified added locations in the acreage.
After drilling another highly productive well in the Eagle Ford Shale acreage early last month, Scott Sheffield, chairman and CEO had said that in order to further accelerate Eagle Ford Shale development, Pioneer was actively pursuing a joint venture, with an announcement expected by the end of the second quarter of 2010.
Although he did not name the company then, Reuters reported yesterday, citing two sources familiar with the matter that RIL is in talks with Pioneer to buy a stake in its shale gas assets.
Citing a source, Reuters, said that so far, neither the purchase value nor the size of the stake in a potential deal with Pioneer had been finalised.