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Mitsubishi Corporation has said it will buy the largest privately held US shale gas producer for $7.5bn including debt, the biggest acquisition in the Warren Buffett-backed trading house’s history.
Mitsubishi said on Friday that it would acquire Aethon, which produces 2.1bn cubic feet per day of natural gas in the Haynesville basin in Texas and Louisiana, to help supply power for the AI build-out and bolster energy security in Europe and Asia.
The takeover bolsters Mitsubishi’s gas portfolio at a time when fossil fuels are in high demand as a result of the rapid construction of data centres for AI and cloud services. Aethon’s volume is equivalent to 2 per cent of US gas output.
“Due to the rapid evolution of AI and data-driven society, increase in global energy demand is expected to accelerate,” the company said in a presentation announcing the deal. “Amid global efforts to ensure energy security and domestic industrial competitiveness, natural gas and LNG are gaining importance.”
Japanese energy businesses have been expanding their presence in the southern US due to its huge scale, cost advantage and existing export infrastructure. Tokyo has signalled a greater role for gas in the nation’s energy supply beyond 2050 as US President Donald Trump pushes for investment and expansion of fossil fuels.
Under the Aethon deal terms, Mitsubishi will make an equity investment of $5.2bn and take on $2.3bn of debt.
It plans to increase production to 2.6 bcf/d, equivalent to a quarter of Japan’s gas imports, and estimates that the business will generate ¥70bn to ¥80bn ($442mn to $505mn) of net income in the 2027 financial year.
The deal comes after Japan pledged to invest $550bn in the US in return for a reduction of tariffs on its exports to 15 per cent. Given the lack of Japanese state lender support behind the acquisition, the buyout will not count towards the total, according to people familiar with the situation.
Japan’s Jera, the world’s largest gas trader, agreed last year to procure 5.5mn tonnes per year of LNG from the south of the US and to acquire gasfields in the Haynesville basin for $1.5bn. Japan Petroleum Exploration said in December that it would buy Verdad Resources, an owner of US oil and gas assets, for $1.3bn.
Trump has been encouraging Japanese energy businesses, including the trading houses, to invest in Alaska LNG, a large gas export project, but they have resisted because of the high level of risk.
The Aethon deal further elevates Mitsubishi as a global gas trading powerhouse, adding to upstream gas production in Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Australia and Russia. The company estimates that after the deal it will hold 4 to 5 per cent of global LNG trading.
Aethon’s gas can be exported through the Cameron LNG Terminal, which Mitsubishi is involved in, and will have synergies with its Houston-based CIMA Energy trading unit, which handles 5 bcf/d.
