Total May Be Interested In Chesapeake's Utica Shale Acreage – Bloomberg

Total SA TOT, Europe's third-largest oil company, is said to be considering making an offer for some Chesapeake Energy's CHK Utica Shale acreage in Ohio, Bloomberg News reported citing a source with knowledge of the matter. In early November, Oklahoma-based Chesapeake said it reached an agreement to sell a quarter of its 570,000 Utica acres to an unidentified foreign company for $2.14 billion. Chesapeake, the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer, has yet to publicly rule out France's Total as a possible suitor for the Utica acreage. A transaction would give Oklahoma-City based Chesapeake $640 million in cash and $1.5 billion toward the cost of future drilling, Bloomberg reported. Total executives have said publicly they are looking to boost the company's shale exposure. The two companies have a history of doing business together. Last year, Total paid $2.25 billion for a 25% stake in Chesapeake's Barnett Shale assets. Utica is believed to hold 5.5 billion barrels of crude and almost 16 trillion cubic feet of gas.