Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd has agreed to sell a shale oil and gas block in the United States for $126 million, a third of the price it paid seven years ago, amid a downturn in global oil prices.
BKV Chelsea LLC, an affiliate of energy investment firm Kalnin Ventures LLC, bought the asset, located in the Marcellus shale in northeastern and central Pennsylvania, from Reliance.
The Indian company said in a statement, adding it could further receive $11.25 million based on changes in natural gas prices. Reliance bought the Marcellus asset in 2010 for $392 million.
The three shale assets accounted for less than 1 percent of the consolidated revenue of Reliance, which runs the world’s biggest refinery complex in western India. It has also expanded into telecoms in recent years, investing $30 billion in a new fourth-generation network named Jio.