Jagran Josh
Adani Welspun Exploration to invest 1.5 billion US dollar in US shale and Canadian oil sands assets
Adani Welspun Exploration (AWEL) on 23 November 2014 announced to invest 1.5 billion US dollar in US shale and Canadian oil sands assets. AWEL is the joint venture between Gautam Adani led Adani Group and towel-to-pipe conglomerate Welspun led by B K Goenka.
The investment will be made towards stake purchases in select Louisiana and Texas shale fields in the US and some Alberta oil sands projects in Canada.
Although the joint venture has an overall investment plan of 1.5 billion US dollar for overseas energy assets, it seeks to buy a minimum investment of 300 million US dollar.
AWEL is a strategic partnership for oil and gas business between Adani and Welspun with two Indian corporate honchos holding interests in conventional blocks in India, Thailand and Egypt.
The two groups feel that shale and oil sands, which have significant potential, will play a greater role in the world’s total energy mix and, hence, want to invest in these areas.
If AWEL investment fructifies in the North American region known for its rich reserves in unconventional resources it will mark AWEL’s first investment in shale and oil sands properties.
Indian firms have so far invested over 10 billion US dollar in US shale gas, of which Reliance alone has invested over 7 billion US dollar
Indian companies like Reliance Industries and state-run GAIL, IOC and Oil India have been scanning oil and gas assets abroad to meet the growing energy demand of Asia’s third largest economy, which meets four-fifths of its crude oil and about a fourth of its gas requirements through imports.
