Giant

The chairman of Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) said Thursday the merger with natural gas pipeline giant Southern Union Co. (SUG) will give the combined company more customer market access in U.S. shale gas plays and alleviate some growing takeaway issues.

Japan’s giant trading house Marubeni Corp. last week struck a $270 million deal to acquire a chunk of Marathon Oil Corp.’s gas-rich acreage in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin.

A subsidiary of natural gas giant Encana Corp. last week clinched a deal to be the sole fuel supplier to a California-based water company that will use trucks powered with liquefied natural gas (LNG) to service Haynesville Shale producers.

Australian energy giant BHP Billiton Petroleum, better known for its Gulf of Mexico (GOM) development, chiseled off a piece of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s huge U.S. portfolio in a $4.75 billion cash deal to acquire almost half a billion acres in the Fayetteville Shale.

Australian energy giant BHP Billiton Petroleum has become the latest international energy heavyweight to buy into U.S. shale plays with a transaction to acquire Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Fayetteville Shale portfolio for $4.75 billion cash.

Australian energy giant BHP Billiton Petroleum, better known for its Gulf of Mexico (GOM) development, chiseled off a piece of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s huge U.S. portfolio in a $4.75 billion cash deal to acquire almost half a billion acres in the Fayetteville Shale.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) said Tuesday it has acquired Barnett Shale properties from ConocoPhillips. The deal is the latest in the private equity giant’s march into North American gas shale plays.

A decision by Encana Corp. to pull out of an investor conference this week ramped up rumors that the natural gas giant may be close to a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) to develop its vast British Columbia (BC) shale holdings.

Shale giant Chesapeake Energy Corp. “has one of the industry’s best collections of natural gas assets,” but “continuing concerns about the company’s profligate spending” and accounting methods led veteran analyst Philip H. Weiss of Argus Research to trim his recommendation to “sell” last week.