DALLAS, May 11 (UPI) -- British gas giant BG Group expanded its portfolio in the U.S. shale gas market through a $950 million venture for Exco Resources, the company announced.
BG Group through the deal takes a 50 percent interest in 654,000 acres of shale gas reserves held by Exco Resources in the Appalachian Basin.
International gas explorers are flocking to shale gas as technological advances make the resource more profitable.
BG Group Chief Executive Officer Frank Chapman said the venture with Exco Resources, which expands on a 2009 deal, boost his company's holdings in shale gas locked primarily in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
"The new joint venture will further strengthen BG Group's unconventional gas portfolio, adding, at an attractive price, substantial resources adjacent to the premium gas markets of the US eastern seaboard," he was quoted in the Financial Times as saying.
BG Group said the deal boost its gas holdings by about 3 percent.
