Shell leases 150,000 acres in Eagle Ford shale play

Shell Oil has leased 150,000 acres in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas. Shell’s move is parallel to Statoil’s entry into the Marcellus, Total’s joint venture in the Barnett and Exxon’s purchase of XTO, an independent active in the Barnett and Marcellus plays.

Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co., the US division of Royal Dutch Shell, told The Houston Chronicle’s Brett Clanton that the Eagle Ford lease is a key piece of the company’s North American gas portfolio. Three years ago, Shell partnered with Canadian independent Encana to participate in the Haynesville shale play in Louisiana.

The Eagle Ford shale play runs beneath the Austin Chalk Shale at depths between 4,000 and 10,000 ft and geographically extends from the border with Mexico across the South Texas counties of McMullen, LaSalle, Maverick and Dimmit.