SME Times News Bureau | 10 Apr, 2010
Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has said it has signed a USD 1.7 billion joint venture agreement with US-based Atlas Energy Inc. for extracting shale gas in America.
Reliance will acquire a 40 percent "undivided interest" in about 300,000 net acres of undeveloped leasehold held by Atlas in the core area of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, the company said in a statement.
Reliance will pay USD 339 million in cash upon closing and an additional USD 1.36 billion in the form of a drilling carry.
Atlas will serve as the development operator for the joint venture, the statement added.
The deal is likely to be closed by this month-end.
Shale gas is natural gas stored in organic, sedimentary rocks. It is considered an unconventional source of energy.
