Energy giants from abroad shop around

By LYNN COOK Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Feb. 27, 2009, 11:00PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...

Once impossible

Foreign companies see the success U.S. companies have had ferreting out natural gas from rock-solid reservoirs that a few years ago were thought to be impossible to tap, and they want to duplicate it in places thought to be devoid of natural resources.

Reinertsen points to Exxon Mobil Corp.’s investment in Hungary’s Mako Trough, potentially Europe’s biggest natural gas find in 50 years. If a company can gain the technical know-how, it can follow Exxon Mobil, he said.

“A lot of companies are looking at gas in the rest of the world,” he said.

T. Paul Bulmahn, chairman and CEO of ATP Oil & Gas Corp., a Gulf operator, confirms foreign investors have been sniffing around for deep-water deals.

“I have had conversations. They are very interested in partnering in the future or acquiring reserves,” he said.

He said the Gulf is attractive because it’s prolific.

“Especially in the deep water, all the projects seem to get bigger once you start developing them. Our Ladybug project continues to outproduce third-party reserve estimates,” Bulmahn said.

Martin Lovegood of Standard Chartered Bank said that as the year wears on, choppy credit markets may force the hand of many companies trying to hang on to assets.

“There really is a mismatch between buyers’ desires and sellers’ expectations that’s causing gridlock,” Lovegood said.