SAN RAMON, Calif., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A deal to acquire U.S. energy company Atlas Energy Inc. adds trillions of feet of shale gas to Chevron's portfolio in the United States, the supermajor said.
Chevron announced that it would acquire Atlas for $3.2 billion in cash and $1.1 in assumed debt. The acquisition gives Chevron access to natural gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale play in southern Pennsylvania.
Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said the deal gives his company around 9 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves with the bulk of that locked in American shale deposits, including 100,000 acres of shale in Michigan.
"This acquisition is the right opportunity for Chevron," he said.
Shale deposits are considered an emerging energy resource for the United States. T. Boone Pickens, a Texas oil magnate, said abundant gas reserves in the United States made the country the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas."
"The Atlas Energy assets further advance Chevron's global shale gas position, complementing the company's recent entrance into shale gas opportunities in Poland, Romania and Canada," added Kirkland in his statement.
The Atlas acquisition is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
