As part of its strategy to tap the growing world market for non-conventional energy, Reliance Industries is on the look out for new energy assets in USA and is expected to pick up energy assets including shale gas worth US$1 bln. Some of the assets on its acquisition radar include those owned by exploration and production company East Resources. East Resources was acquired by Royal Dutch Shell a month ago for US$4.7 bln. Its assets include over 1.25 mln acres of land holdings in USA, over 2,500 producing oil and gas wells that it also operates in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Colorado, along with 6,50,000 net acres of Marcellus Shale rights in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. Shale gas is becoming an increasingly important source of natural gas and is expected to contribute to over 20% of overall gas production in the US in the next decade. An announcement of the acquisition is expected in H1-2010.
Funds could be generated in house as the company is reported to have cash and cash equivalents of Rs 15,960 crore as of December 31, 2009, and raised about Rs 9,240 crore by selling treasury stocks in three tranches since September 2009.
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