TotalEnergies Acquires Stake in Anadarko Gas Production

The uncertainty and angst spurred by the ongoing trade war doesn’t seem to have dampened foreign companies’ interest in acquiring upstream and midstream energy assets in the U.S. The recent rumor — still unconfirmed — that Mitsubishi Corp. is in talks to acquire Aethon Energy Management’s massive holdings in the Haynesville for a reported $8 billion is only the latest indication that overseas interest may be stronger than ever. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the latest round of foreign investments in U.S. energy and what’s driving those deals. We’ll also look at the Aethon assets on the block. 

The U.S. is now the world’s #1 supplier of LNG and the new liquefaction/export capacity slated to come online over the next few years suggest it will hold that position into the 2030s. To control more of the LNG value chain and become more familiar with the inner workings of the U.S. natural gas market, a small-but-growing number of LNG buyers and suppliers have been acquiring gas production assets close to LNG export terminals along the U.S. Gulf Coast — in other words, buying slices of the American gas-supply pie. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the LNG market players pursuing this strategy, what they’ve been buying, and how their acquisitions may benefit them. 

The fact is, many major E&P acquisitions include at least some production assets that don’t align with the acquiring company’s long-term strategic plans. Also, it’s often true that big-dollar M&A increases the buyer’s debt level — and it’s typical in such cases that the company commits to quickly reducing its debt through the divestiture of non-core assets. As we discuss in today’s RBN blog, there’s a lot of that going on now, and in many cases smaller, private-equity-backed producers are scooping up the acreage and production being sold.