japan

Marathon Oil Corp. has struck a deal with Japan’s Marubeni Corp. to sell close to a one-third stake in 180,000 net acres in the natural gas-rich Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin for $270 million, or about $5,000 an acre.

While the West Coast of North America received a relatively light slap compared to the devastation in Japan following that nation’s worst-ever recorded earthquake and tsunami, California officials reported an estimated $50 million in damages, centered in two Northern California counties — Del Norte and Santa Cruz. The state’s string of coastal electric generation plants, except for the northern most at Humboldt Bay, reported no impact.

Given the events in Japan and last September’s fatal natural gas pipeline rupture in California, residents in and around California state’s capital are stirring up eleventh-hour doubts about a proposed underground gas storage facility south of their city. Some Sacramento residents will not accept a final environmental report listing as remote the chance of a leak or accident at the proposed facility.

While the West Coast of North America received a relatively light slap compared to the devastation in Japan following that nation’s worst-ever recorded earthquake and tsunami, California officials reported an estimated $50 million in damages, centered in two Northern California counties — Del Norte and Santa Cruz. The state’s string of coastal electric generation plants, except for the northern most at Humboldt Bay, reported no impact.

April futures were confined to a narrow range Friday but managed to eke out a modest gain. The massive earthquake in Japan found its way into crude oil and natural gas trading, and the unwinding of long crude oil and short natural gas positions prompted a firm tone to the market.

A unit of Japan’s Marubeni Corp. last week agreed to buy BP plc’s stakes in four deepwater oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) for $650 million.

A unit of Japan’s Marubeni Corp. on Monday agreed to buy BP plc’s stakes in four deepwater oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) for $650 million.

A unit of Japan’s ITOCHU Corp. is to acquire a one-quarter interest in Niobrara oil shale acreage in southeastern Wyoming, marking the first time a Japanese company is participating in a U.S. oil shale project.

Pennsylvania-based producer Rex Energy Corp. is partnering in the Marcellus Shale with a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. in a transaction expected to pay dividends for years to come, the companies said last week.