Engie sells British shale gas interests to petrochemicals firm Ineos

11-Mar-17

French energy company Engie has sold its British shale gas interests to petrochemicals firm Ineos for an undisclosed sum. Engie was one of the first big energy companies to back Britain's nascent shale gas industry when it bought parts of Dart Energy's licenses, a company since then taken over by IGas, in 2013. The deal builds on Ineos' position as Britain's largest shale gas company as it now has access to a shale gas area of more than 1.2 million acres.

The company, which recently moved its headquarters from Switzerland back to Britain, wants to invest 1 bln pounds into shale gas which it bets on as a feedstock for its petrochemicals business. Engie, on the other hand, said its retreat from British shale gas was in line with its strategy to focus more on energy infrastructure, like gas pipelines, and services. As part of the deal, Ineos is taking over Engie's entire UK onshore exploration license portfolio, that consists of interests in 15 licenses, including seven in which Ineos had a previous participation.