Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. has exited the Marcellus Shale, announcing Monday that it had closed the sale of its interests in properties in western Pennsylvania to an undisclosed buyer. 

Penn Energy wells

Sumitomo, which entered the play in September 2010, did not disclose how much it earned for its 30% working interest in assets operated by PennEnergy Resources LLC. The properties are in Butler County, to the north of stronger development activity in southwest Pennsylvania. 

Sumitomo became the first Asian company to buy into unconventional oil and gas resources in North America in 2009, when it took a stake in Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc.’s Barnett Shale assets. The company still has interests there and in the Permian Basin. It also has North American marketing and trading operations,...