Repsol buys Pennsylvanian shale producer

Acquisition of Rockdale Marcellus is part of the Spanish firm’s strategic plan

Spanish oil company Repsol has bought bankrupt US shale producer Rockdale Marcellus for $222mn. The US firm owns 100pc of its west Pennsylvanian operations, which were producing c.110mn ft³/d (3.11mn m³/d) of gas as of March of last year. The company’s 48,000-acre plot is contiguous but stretches across the counties of Tioga, Bradford and Lycoming. Rockdale Marcellus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September last year. Repsol says the acquisition is “one of 14 key projects” in its 2021-2025 strategic plan and allows the company to add value to its existing and adjacent positions in the “prolific” dry gas portion of the Marcellus shale formation. There is also the potential to expand oper