A private equity group is considering assuming Royal Dutch Shell’s 50% stake in a shale-gas field in Louisiana, according to sources.
Blackstone Group could pay a bumper $1.2billion for 350,000 acres located in the Haynesville Shale formation, which stretch across northern Louisiana and East Texas.
Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman heads the New York based firm. The deal would be the latest in a series of transactions, which has seen companies like Shell and Apache sell off stakes in shale-gas fields amid dipping prices.
The purchase would beef-up Blackstone’s Louisiana’s assets, which include the first facility to win government approval to export gas from the Gulf Coast. The purpose-built plant is expected to come on line in 2016.
Blackstone is the world’s largest manager of alternative assets including private-equity, hedge funds and real estate.