Oil giant Shell looks set to turn its back on the American shale gas revolution after confirming it is to exit the Eagle Ford field.
The giant Texas field, which is thought to hold around 50trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, has been one of the major parts of the fracking boom in the USA.
But the Dutch major, which took a $2billion hit from shale write-downs this summer, said it was selling off its stake in the field after a review of its operations there.
“We have decided to sell our Eagle Ford Shale asset in Texas,” said Shell spokeswoman Kimberly Windon
“We have progressed with the strategic review of our onshore shale assets and have identified assets that do not meet our global targets for materiality and scale.”
Shell has a 106,000 acre site in the giant gas field, covering the Dimmit, LaSalle and Webb counties in southern texas, and producing around 32,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from their operations.
But the field has failed to yield the size and profitability hopes Shell had for the site, and a $2.2billion charge against its operation led to profits dropping more 60% for the second quarter.
Output from Eagle Ford continues to grow, with expectations it will hit around 1million boed next year, but larger companies have struggled to make it pay to the extent smaller operators have, with BG Group and BHP Billiton also struggling with the range.