Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. Ltd. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire a 9% stake in Polish shale gas exploration concessions from subsidiaries of Marathon Oil Corporation.
Mitsui is the first Japanese company to enter into a European shale gas project, the company said.
Poland could have 5.3 trillion cubic meters of shale gas, equal to more than 300 years of the country’s annual gas consumption, the U.S. Department of Energy said in April. If it turns out to be economically viable to extract, shale gas would reduce Poland’s natural gas supply dependence on Russia’s OAO Gazprom.
The 10 concessions, encompassing 2.1 million acres (850,000 hectares), are located in a band spanning from north Poland to its eastern border, according to a map enclosed in Mitsui’s statement.
“Seismic and other geological analysis, as well as drilling of exploration wells to evaluate technical potential of the concessions will be carried out over the next five years,” the company said.
Nexen Inc., another partner, owns a 40% working interest in the concessions. The closing of the transaction is contingent on approval by Polish government authorities and Nexen, Mitsui said.
“Poland is considered to be one of the most attractive shale gas potential areas in Europe, where the development of shale gas by the major oil and gas companies is expected to accelerate,” the company said.
“We are conducting shale gas development and production activities in the Marcellus Shale, Pa.,” Mitsui said. “With our experience and knowledge acquired from this project, we intend to expand our presence in the European gas market, which follows the U.S. gas market.”
