Global mining giant BHP Billiton has agreed to buy shale gas interests from Chesapeake Energy Corp for $4.75 billion in its first move into shale gas as it looks to beef up its oil and gas business. In BHP’s first big acquisition since a string of failed deals, the global miner said it was buying Chesapeake’s holdings in Arkansas’ Fayetteville shale natural gas field.
See http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page38?oid=121164&sn=Detail.
See also BHP steps on the gas, http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BHP-Billiton-Chesapeak-shale-gas-US-pd20110222-EB3C6?OpenDocument&src=sph and http://planetark.org/wen/61291 (video).