Adani-Welspun to invest $1.5 billion in US shale, Canadian oil sands assets.

Infrastructure powerhouse Adani Group along with the towel-to-pipe conglomerate Welspun is studying liquid-rich shale and oil sands assets in the US and Canada for acquisitions as the two home-grown business houses look to build a formidable oil and gas enterprise.

Adani, owned by Gautam Adani, who has close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Welspun, controlled by B K Goenka, have a strategic partnership for oil and gas business and the duo hold interests in conventional blocks in India, Thailand and Egypt. The partners now plan to invest $1.5 billion towards stake purchases in select Louisiana and Texas shale fields in the US and some Alberta oil sands projects in Canada as they bet big on unconventional resources.

The two groups feel that shale and oil sands, which have significant potential, will play a greater role in the world's total energy mix and, hence, want to invest in these areas, said sources familiar with the matter. However, unlike their earlier strategy where the joint venture firm, in which Adani owns majority shares, bought exploratory blocks and then had to discover oil, this time around the plan is to buy interest in oil-producing assets, they added.


TOI