Shell to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resources for $16.4bn
Shell has agreed to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resources for $16.4bn, five years after Europe’s biggest gas and oil producer sold its US shale business.The deal, which includes $13.6bn in cash and shares and taking on ARC’s $2.8bn debt, would be Shell’s biggest acquisition since it bought BG Group a decade ago.
ARC would add about 370,000 barrels a day of oil and gas to the London-listed company’s production,Shell said that the deal would boost production growth from 1% a year to 4% and add 2bn barrels to its proved and probable reserves,Analysts and investors have previously said that Shell needed an acquisition, or exploration breakthrough, to bolster its production and reserves due to its ageing existing fields,Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell since 2023, said the deal to buy Calgary-based ARC, which is focused on the Montney shale basin in British Columbia and Alberta, would make Canada a “heartland” for Shell,He added it would strengthen Shell’s “resource base for decades to come”.
“We are accessing uniquely positioned assets and welcoming colleagues that bring deep expertise which, combined with Shell’s strong basin level performance, provides a compelling proposition for shareholders,” he said.The move marks a major bolstering of its operations North America, after Shell sold its US shale business in the Permian Basin in Texas to ConocoPhillips in 2021 for $9.5bn.ARC mainly produces gas and condensate, a liquid that can be used in refineries to make ethylene, and Shell’s deal marks its latest push to become one of the largest players in liquefied natural gas.In 2015, Shell acquired gas group BG, formerly the exploration arm of British Gas, for £47bn in what was then one of the largest takeovers in the oil sector for two decades.
The company also owns a 40% stake in LNG Canada, a $40bn liquefied fossil gas plant on the west coast of Canada.Shell said that it either “owns” or is “involved with more than 30% of global LNG capacity, and is the world’s largest trader of the fuel.Earlier this year, Sawan said that the company had spent about $2bn buying assets last year that would add about 40,000 barrels a day of new production by the end of the decade.“We think they’re paying a fair valuation given the deep inventory that ARC has and the likelihood of a counterbid to be low,” said Eric Nuttall, a senior portfolio manager at investment group Ninepoint Partners.Shell, which is due to report its results for the first quarter on 7 May, is expected to report “significantly higher” profits from its trading desks due to the market volatility triggered by the Iran crisis.
Shares in Shell fell 1.8% on Monday.
Gay and Bedingham ace Durham’s chase against Lancashire: county cricket, day four – as it happened
Durham’s Emilio Gay and David Bedingham turned a substantial run chase into an ice-cream and Pimm’s knockabout at Chester-le-Street, chasing down a target of 336 to beat Lancashire with 18 overs to spare. Their unbeaten centuries, in a record stand, came at a gallop and Lancashire had no answer, despite winkling out Ben McKinney and Alex Lees before lunch. “The team is starting to believe,” said the Durham head coach, Ryan Campbell. “There’s a feeling of calmness around the group that I haven’t seen in a while.”Tom Westley and Dean Elgar both made centuries and in process batted Essex to safety against Surrey at the Oval, in a game soaked in sunshine and runs
Anthony Joshua to face Tyson Fury this year for biggest fight in British boxing history
The most hyped and regularly postponed fight in recent British boxing history will apparently take place this year after Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury agreed terms to meet in the ring. Long in the making, and coming far too late in the faded careers of both former world heavyweight champions, the much-delayed showdown will be a guaranteed money-spinner for the fighters and their backers.Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, could barely contain his glee in an Instagram post that said: “Signed, sealed, delivered! AJ v Fury is on! The biggest piece of business we’ve ever done but more importantly the one we’ve always wanted. Biggest year of AJ’s career coming up, the comeback is on.”The bout is expected to take place in November with Netflix having broadcast rights
Murphy goes head-to-head with Loughnane on Guineas weekend in title race
A little over a month after the Brocklesby at Doncaster launched the new season on turf the Flat jockeys’ championship will finally be off and running at Newmarket on Saturday. For the first time since Oisin Murphy and William Buick took the race all the way to Champions Day in October 2021 there is a genuine chance of a contest that extends beyond the end of July.It has the potential to be a historic contest and the bookies cannot agree on a favourite in what is likely to be a straight head-to-head between 20-year-old Billy Loughnane – who would be the youngest champion for more than a century – and Murphy, the reigning champion and hoping to join Kieren Fallon as a six-time winner.Murphy was an easy victor with 143 winners last season and while Loughnane was the only other rider to reach three figures he was a long way adrift on 108. On that basis, punters could expect Murphy to be a heavy favourite, but at lunchtime on Monday it was possible to back Murphy at 11-10 with Ladbrokes and Loughnane at 6-4 with William Hill – an 88% book in a contest for which Rossa Ryan, at 16-1, is the only other runner shorter than 25-1
Vafaei launches epic comeback to stun Trump on day of great Crucible drama
Iran’s Hossein Vafaei caused the biggest shock of this year’s World Snooker Championship as he beat the world No 1, Judd Trump, in a final frame decider on Monday.Hossein showed nerves of steel to rattle off a break of 91 in the 25th frame to claim a 13-12 victory and move through to the quarter-finals for the first time. Trump, aiming to add to his 2019 title, had led 10-7 and 12-11, but Vafaei would not be denied.The beaming Iranian was warmly congratulated by Trump at the end and received a standing ovation from the crowd. “He’s such a tough opponent
‘I can run 1:58’: Sabastian Sawe sets new target after historic London Marathon win
Sabastian Sawe believes it is only a matter of time before he runs a marathon in one hour and 58 minutes after his superb sub-two hour performance in London on Sunday.Sawe ran 1hr 59min 30sec to break the world record by 65sec and the 31-year-old Kenyan confirmed that he plans to race again in the autumn, although he has not decided where.It will probably be in Berlin, which is a faster course than London, in September. When Sawe was asked whether he agreed with his coach, Claudio Berardelli, that 1:58 was possible in his next race, he smiled. “It’s only a matter of time
Mickey Arthur drafted into new coaches panel to mend England’s ties with county cricket
Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa and Pakistan head coach, is one of four appointments to England’s new County Insight Group as the national team seeks to repair relations with the domestic game after last winter’s Ashes defeat.Among the recommendations from the internal Ashes review that led to Rob Key and Brendon McCullum remaining as director of cricket and men’s head coach respectively was improved dialogue with the county game, not least regarding selection.The sense previously was that England were not interested in the views of those on the shop floor. Paul Farbrace, head coach at Sussex, had summed up the mood as: “There has almost been a feeling in county cricket that: ‘We’re not bothered whether England are doing well or not,’ and that saddens me.”To that end Key has appointed four county head coaches – Arthur, Richard Dawson, Alan Richardson and Anthony McGrath – to sit on a new panel that will meet the England hierarchy three or four times a season
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