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.
对页岩的争夺正呈现出愈演愈烈的趋势。随着页岩气在美国天然气产量中占据的比重进一步增加，跨国石油企业如今正争先恐后购入大片大片的美国土地——美国企业则争先恐后地向它们出售土地。法国道达尔(Total)近日宣布，它与美国切萨皮克能源公司(Chesapeake Energy)及当地的小型投资伙伴EnerVest组建了一家23亿美元的页岩气合资企业。这一消息清晰地反映出了上述趋势。该交易不仅帮助道达尔进一步实现了资产组合的再平衡，也使切萨皮克得以将一块颇具价值却缺乏有序开发的资产成功变现。