National Fuel Gas Co. recently purchased Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary SWEPI LP for approximately $541 million.
The purchase provides the company Shell’s upstream and midstream gathering assets in Pennsylvania.
“National Fuel’s acquisition of these high-quality assets in one of the most prolific areas in Appalachia will provide the Company with a unique and highly strategic opportunity to further its integrated development approach in the region,” National Fuel President and CEO David P. Bauer said. “With significant economies of scale provided by Shell’s large Tioga County acreage footprint, which is contiguous to our existing development areas, along with significant, integrated gathering facilities, and valuable pipeline capacity, Shell’s assets are a perfect fit for the Company’s diversified business model, and provide meaningful synergies with our existing operations.”
National Fuel will acquire more than 200,000 net acres in Tioga County, approximately 142 miles of gathering pipelines, more than 100 miles of water pipelines, and associated infrastructure.
Shell’s operations are located primarily in the western and rural northern Pennsylvania and focus on drilling and producing dry gas from the Marcellus and Utica formations of Appalachia. Its new Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex will employ up to 6,000 construction workers during the construction process, and an estimated 600 permanent workers once finished.
The deal is expected to close on July 31.