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Chemung County Natural Gas Coalition Organized by Landowners for Landowners.
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| NEWS ______________________________________________________________ May 28, 2010 Anyone who doesn't think we're going to see some big time drilling in the coming years is fooling themselves (despite the best efforts of a bunch of NYC politicians) Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas producer, said Friday that it had struck a deal to buy most of the assets of East Resources for $4.7 Billion in cash, moving into the coveted sector of the natural gas contained in shale deposits. "The opportunity now is to consolidate our tight gas portfolio, divest from non-core positions across North America, and to invest for profitable growth" said Peter Voser, chief executive of Shell, calling the East Resources assets " the premier shale gas play in the Northeast U.S." Shell is getting 1.05 million acres of so-called tight gas properties in North America, in the northeastern states and the Rockies , which make up most of the 1.3 million gas acres it is acquiring on the continent this year, and which it expects it to produce 16 Trillion cubic feet of gas in total. East Resource's activities in the North East have centered around the Marcellus Shale area. This area is known to contain tight-gas or gas held in shale formations that make it difficult to extract. While small and mid level-players like East Resources have solid access to the gas deposits, they cannot always afford to exploit them to the full. "You have to throw a lot of capex at drilling" Mr. Kenny said referring to capital expenditures. While natural gas prices are modest in the US now, he added, they are expected to rise. Shell's rival, Exxon Mobil agreed in December to buy XTO Energy which was then the largest domestic natural gas producer in the US, for $31 billion.
Page Last Updated 06/14/2010
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