Abu Dhabi’s state oil firm is studying a bid for the natural gas assets of Aethon Energy Management, a US energy-focused investment firm, according to people familiar with the matter.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is working with advisers to evaluate an offer for the assets that could potentially be worth about $9 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. Other suitors are also circling Aethon’s natural gas and midstream assets that are mostly based in Texas and Louisiana, the people said.
Deliberations are in the early stages and no final agreements have been reached, the people said. It isn’t immediately clear if recent market volatility would impact the transaction.
Representatives for Adnoc and Aethon declined to comment.
Adnoc’s interests in Aethon’s assets comes amid attempts by the United Arab Emirates to appeal to US President Donald Trump’s drive to attract investment to America and boost energy production.
The UAE pledged to invest as much as $1.4 trillion in the US over the next decade following a meeting between Trump and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country’s national security adviser. Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. agreed to buy its first-ever stakes in US natural gas production and export projects.
Adnoc has been among the most active dealmakers globally over the past year, buying assets from the US and Europe to Africa. The firm is seeking to acquire its first natural gas producing fields in the US to deepen its presence in the country, Bloomberg News reported last month.
In 2024, it bought a stake in NextDecade Corp.’s liquefied natural gas export project in Texas, marking its first US acquisition along with a 20-year supply deal. That was followed by a stake in Exxon Mobil Corp.’s proposed hydrogen project, which is also in Texas.
Aethon is among the most active drillers in the Haynesville shale basin, which straddles East Texas and northern Louisiana, and is close to several LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast. It was founded by oil and gas investor Albert Huddleston in 1990.
In 2015, the Huddleston family partnered with RedBird Capital Partners to help scale the business. A year later, RedBird brought in Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to further increase the company’s capital availability.
Source: By Gillian Tan, Dinesh Nair, Anthony Di Paola from Rigzone.com