Sinochem inks $500m Texas shale oil deal

Sinochem (600500.SHA), China’s largest chemical products supplier, agreed to purchase for US$500 million a 40% stake in Texas oil-shale acreage from Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.NYSE), Bloomberg reported. The Dallas-based Pioneer Natural said it will continue to operate Wolfcamp’s 207,000 net acres, while Sinochem will also pay US$1.2 billion for future drilling costs. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, this is Beijing-based Sinochem’s first acquisition of oil and natural gas assets from a US company. The deal follows CNOOC’s (CEO.NYSE, 0883.HKG) US$1.3 billion purchase of stake in Chesapeake Energy (CHK.NYSE, CHK-D.NYSE) and China Petrochemical’s (1314.TPE) US$2.5 billion deal with Devon Energy (DVN.NYSE).