India Gets Involved In Eagle Ford Shale

The Eagle Ford shale is now truly a multinational oil and gas play, with GAIL India Ltd entering into a joint venture with Carrizo Oil And Gas.  GAIL India is  that country’s largest natural gas distribution  company, operating pipeline networks, refineries, LNG terminals, along with an exploration and production division. GAIL, formerly known as Gas Authority Of India, was formed by the Indian government in 1984.

The Indian natural gas company GAIL will invest $300 million over three years. Most of the 20,200 acres involved in the joint venture will be in LaSalle county, Texas.  Gail India will have a 20% stake in the acreage.

Indian investment in the Eagle Ford shale comes on the heels of several other foreign based companies jumping into the lucrative oil and gas play in South Texas.

Below, Map of Carrizo Oil and Gas Eagle Ford Shale Activity.

Source: Carrizo Oil and Gas.

Some Of The Foreign Owned Companies Investing In The Eagle Ford Shale

China’s state oil company, CNOOC, has partnered with Chesapeake Energy. The deal which gives CNOOC a 33.3% stake in all of Chesapeake’s Eagle Ford shale acreage, cost the Chinese company over 1.2 billion dollars. Australian mining company BHP Billiton recently acquired Petrohawk Energy, a major Eagle Ford shale player, for $12.1 billion in cash.  Texon Petroleum, another Aussie firm is drilling in the Eagle Ford shale as well.

Statoil, an Norwegian company, has partnered in Eagle Ford shale with Talisman Energy and Enduring Resources LLC in over 67,000 acres in the Eagle Ford.

Korean National Oil company (KNOC) signed a $1.55 billion deal with Anadarko in March of 2011 which gave them a 1/3 interest in acreage in the Maverick Basin.

SM Energy recently announced a partnership with Mitsui, a Japanese company, giving them a 12.5% working interest in  SM Energy’s non operated Eagle Ford shale acreage.