Asia

Any U.S. oil and gas wildcatter looking for a way to get on the Forbes annual Billionaires list might take a hint from some of the interests among those who made this year’s list, published Monday. They like oil and they like natural gas, and many of them especially like shale.

Talisman Energy Inc. is shopping its Eagle Ford Shale acreage with hopes of raising up to US$2 billion, according to a Reuters report that cited unnamed sources.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. last year cut debt by $750 million, stabilized its balance sheet and is now focused on two core areas: the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, said CEO Hal Kvisle.

The biggest Canadian export license yet has been granted for proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Asia, but no date is set to build any terminals or launch tankers.

The Marcellus Shale is a “solidly economic” shale play that could play a big role in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the United States to Europe and Asia, but regulatory hurdles, stiff competition and market forces are all significant obstacles, according to two energy industry experts.

Private equity power broker Riverstone Holdings LLC announced Monday that it has made an investment in Three Rivers Operating Co. LLC, which in turn has signed an agreement to buy several assets in the Permian Basin of West Texas from Meritage Energy Company LLC.

Meritage Midstream Services LLC and private equity power broker Riverstone Holdings LLC on Wednesday said they were teaming up once again, with Riverstone providing $500 million to pursue new natural gas liquids (NGL) midstream opportunities in some of North America’s emerging resource plays.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy is abandoning a project it had considered with Sasol Canada to develop Canada’s first gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility to create transportation fuels from natural gas.

If the Lower 48 states were to export liquefied domestic gas to markets such as Asia and Europe — most likely from the Gulf Coast region — it would mean higher gas prices for U.S. consumers, more domestic gas production along with reduced domestic consumption and an increase in pipeline gas imports from Canada, according to a government analysis.