HOUSTON — Gazprom said it may consider acquiring a U.S. shale-gas producer to gain the know-how to exploit similar fuel deposits at home.
“An acquisition of a shale-producing company could make a lot of sense,” John Hattenberger, president of Gazprom’s U.S. energy-trading unit, said late Tuesday. “Russia has huge shale reserves.”
Shale developments, where rock formations are fractured and injected with substances such as water and sand to make gas flow, drove a jump last year in U.S. output of the heating and power-plant fuel. Norway’s StatoilHydro said in May that it may invest in shale formations from Europe to Asia after the purchase of a stake in Chesapeake Energy projects in the U.S. northeast gave it access to shale-gas expertise.
Gazprom, which opened its U.S. trading unit this year, plans by 2018 to ship to North America as much as 90 percent of the 4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas a day that it expects to export from its Shtokman project. After building up its Houston-based trading business in the United States, Gazprom could benefit from buying gas-producing properties in the world’s largest market for the fuel, Hattenberger said.
“As the biggest producer in the world, strategically, it would make some sense,” he said. Before that can happen, Hattenberger added, “We need to walk before we run, and marketing and trading for us is a great entry and capitalizes on Russian production.”
Gazprom had 338.4 billion rubles ($11.6 billion) of cash as of the end of March, according to a company filing. Hattenberger did not identify companies or assets that could become acquisition targets for Gazprom.
The company also plans to add power trading to its Houston operations in 2011 as a part of North American expansion.
Gazprom’s Houston unit, Gazprom Marketing & Trading USA, currently focuses on trading gas and carbon permits and negotiating capacity at U.S. liquefied natural gas terminals.
The 25-person team will expand to about 100 in five years, including 10 traders assigned to power, Hattenberger said.
The gas producer plans to ship 80 percent to 90 percent of the fuel from its Shtokman project in the Arctic to North America as the U.S. economic recovery spurs energy use.
The company plans to sign 20-year contracts in 2010’s first half to use gas-import terminals on the U.S. Gulf and East coasts, Hattenberger said.
Shtokman will produce an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas a day starting in 2014, followed by an additional 2 billion cubic feet a day in about 2016 and 1 billion cubic feet in 2018, he said.
“North America would be a key target market,” Hattenberger said. “If you take a long-term view of this, all the signals are there that say we need more gas.”