Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its affiliate SWEPI LP (“Shell”), has reached an agreement with publicly listed U.S. energy company National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), and its subsidiaries, Seneca Resources Company, LLC, National Fuel Gas Midstream Company, LLC, and NFG Midstream Covington, LLC (together “National Fuel”), to sell its Appalachia shale gas position for $541 million, subject to closing adjustments. The transaction has an effective date of January 1, 2020.

The consideration is intended to be paid in cash, but National Fuel has the option to provide up to $150 million of NFG common stock as consideration. The transaction is part of divesting non-core assets and in line with Shell’s Shales strategy which focusses on development of higher margin, light tight oil assets.

“Divesting our Appalachia position is consistent with our desire to focus our Shales portfolio,” said Wael Sawan, Upstream Director at Shell. “While we maximize cash in the current environment, our drive for a competitive position in Shales continues. It is a core part of our Upstream portfolio along with the Deep Water and Conventional oil and gas businesses.”

The transaction includes the transfer of ~450,000 net leasehold acres across Pennsylvania, with approximately 350 producing Marcellus and Utica wells in Tioga County and associated facilities. The current net production is ~250 million standard cubic feet per day. The transaction also includes the transfer of the Shell owned and operated midstream infrastructure.

The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close by end of July 2020.