Norway's state-controlled Statoil will sell some of its Marcellus shale acreage to US independent producer EQT for $407mn.
The company is selling 62,500 net acres that it operates in the state of West Virginia. Statoil produced 9,300 b/d of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in that acreage during the first quarter of 2016.
Statoil owns about 665,500 total acres in the Marcellus, the largest US gas field by volume. The Marcellus and Utica shales, located in the Appalachian region of the US, have provided 85pc of the country's shale gas production growth since the start of 2012, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Statoil first began operating in the shale in 2008 when it acquired an interest in acreage from Chesapeake Energy. But low natural gas and oil prices have prompted many producers to cut costs and sell assets.
The company said it will keep the Marcellus properties it operates in Ohio and all its Marcellus properties it does not operate.
The transaction should close in July.
EQT had said late last month that it was seeking to buy more acreage in the southwestern portion of the Marcellus shale.
