NEW YORK — Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday it will buy East Resources Inc., a major owner of shale-gas holdings in the northeast United States, for $4.7 billion from private investors.
Europe’s largest oil company said it will pay cash for East Resources, a Pennsylvania company that owns more than 2,500 oil and natural-gas wells in the U.S. It also controls 1.25 million acres of land, mostly in the energy rich Marcellus Shale region that runs from New York to southwest Virginia.
Shell chief executive Peter Voser said the acquisition fit with plans to “grow and upgrade” its holdings of shale gas in North America.
International energy companies have aggressively sought a bigger foothold in the U.S. oil-shale industry, even with natural-gas prices slumping to less than half of what they were in 2008.
Earlier this year, Japanese energy giant Mitsui & Co. said it would pay $1.4 billion for a stake in Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s shale assets. India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. also recently paid $1.7 billion for part of Atlas Energy’s shale-gas deposits.
Natural gas is expected to be in high demand in coming years as a cleaner-burning fuel with lower carbon emissions than coal and other fossil fuels. The nation’s shale deposits are estimated to contain at least a 100-year supply.
Drillers have been especially interested in the Marcellus Shale region. Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated earlier this year that drillers can turn a profit there even with prices holding at around $4 per 1,000 cubic feet. Natural gas futures closed at $4.34 on Friday.
States in the Marcellus Shale region have tightened environmental regulations to address concerns about potential contamination of drinking water supplies and other adverse effects.
