Reliance to pay $1.3 b for stake in Texas shale gas firm

Reliance Industries has agreed to pay $1.3 billion for a stake in the shale gas assets of Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co., as the Indian oil and gas major expands its upstream business in North America.

Reliance said Thursday that subsidiary Reliance Eagleford Upstream LP will pay $263 million up front for a 45 per cent interest in Pioneer's Eagle Ford shale acreage in south Texas, representing 118,000 acres of the 263,000 acre field, which Reliance says holds about 10 trillion cubic feet of gas equivalent.

It is the second such transaction this year for Reliance as it chases resources and expertise in promising unconventional gas reserves in North America.

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