Shell to sell onshore gas assets in Louisiana and Wyoming for $2.1bn

Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to sell its onshore gas assets in Louisiana and Wyoming in two separate agreements, worth approximately $2.1bn.

Shell has added acreage in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in Pennsylvania.

The company is divesting its Pinedale asset to Ultra Petroleum in exchange for $925m in cash and acreage in the Marcellus and Utica oil and gas shale fields in Pennsylvania.

Shell will sell its Haynesville asset in Louisiana to Vine Oil & Gas and its partner Blackstone for $1.2bn.

Shell upstream Americas director Marvin Odum said: "We continue to restructure and focus our North America shale oil and gas portfolio to deliver the most value in the longer term.

"With this announcement, we are adding highly attractive exploration acreage, where we have impressive well results in the Utica, and divesting our more mature Pinedale and Haynesville dry gas positions."

The Pinedale asset features 19,000 net acres of leasehold interest, 1,108 gross wells and associated facilities.

Net production from Pinedale in the second quarter of 2014 was 190 million standard cubic feet per day of dry gas.

The Haynesville asset includes 107,000 net acres in north Louisiana and the field’s production reached 700 million standard cubic feet per day as of 1 July.

Odum added: "We very much appreciate the support we have had in north Louisiana and we will continue to operate in the state, as we have for decades, through our downstream, retail, midstream and New Orleans-based deep-water operations."