Sinopec acquires Chesapeake assets

The Chinese oil companies continue to buy assets in shale gas in North America. Sinopec, second oil Chinese group  by profits will pay $ 1.02 billion to acquire 50% of the assets held by the American Chesapeake in the Mississippi,  Oklahoma. This deposit produced both gas and oil from shale, these hydrocarbons trapped in the bedrock and extracted through controversial hydraulic fracturing technology: production accounted for 34,000 barrels oil equivalent (BoE) per day in the fourth quarter of 2012, and the transferred deposit reserves are estimated at 140 million bep according to Chesapeake. The two companies will create a joint venture, and share the costs of exploration and development.

For the Chinese company, it is important to acquire the know-how of Chesapeake in hydraulic fracturing, while China has the largest global reserves of hydrocarbons from shale. The Chinese  number one, CNOOC, received the authorisation to acquire $ 15.1 billion of the Canadian Nexen, which also produces non-conventional hydrocarbons. CNOOC has also acquired for 1.65 billion dollars of assets of Chesapeake since 2010.

Sealed by a heavy debt and insufficient cash flows, the American company has to sell for $ 7 billion in assets this year. The fall of the price of gas in the United States, linked to the explosion of production, plunged Chesapeake in the red, and caused the leave of Aubrey McClendon, its founder. If analysts have enjoyed the entry of cash related to the transaction, they were however disappointed by the amount:  according to Bloomberg it is three times less than what appeared in the accounts, during a presentation last July.