(Bloomberg) — Ineos, the chemical giant built by one of Britain’s richest men, Jim Ratcliffe, wants to expand its US onshore energy business after making its first major foray into American shale.
(Bloomberg) — Ineos, the chemical giant built by one of Britain’s richest men, Jim Ratcliffe, wants to expand its US onshore energy business after making its first major foray into American shale.
US energy production is very attractive, Ineos Energy Chairman Brian Gilvary said in an interview on Tuesday. His remarks came after Chesapeake announced it had agreed to sell some South Texas shale assets to Ineos for $1.4 billion.
Ineos already has an extensive petrochemical footprint in Houston and other parts of the US Gulf Coast. Although the Chesapeake deal marks the company’s entre to US shale, Ineos has long sought to exploit shale deposits in its home country, ambitions that ultimately were frustrated by a government moratorium on fracking.
“This is a great first step for our lower-48 onshore business,” said Gilvary, a former BP Plc finance chief. “We’re not going to go chasing deals. We’ll wait for ones to come across at the right time.”
Ineos sees the US as an ideal place to do it because of the country’s stable fiscal regime, Gilvary said. Recent federal legislation in the US has led to a carbon capture gold rush that the company expects “will be part of our portfolio going forward.”
Despite the global pivot away from fossil fuels, Gilvary said oil will be crucial over the next two decades.
The deal with Chesapeake, which is expected to close during the second quarter, involves drilling rights to 172,000 acres and about 2,300 active wells in the Eagle Ford Shale, the companies said.
The acquisition also comes as Ratcliffe and Ineos bid for majority ownership of Manchester United Plc, the soccer club valued at about $6 billion.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.