Majors and US independents leave southeast Asian gap

A rush to US shale has left opportunities for others in areas left behind

US independent Murphy Oil became in March the latest US independent to exit Asia in preference for concentrating on US shale and America's deep-water assets. The firm will sell its Malaysian production and reserves to Thailand's state oil firm PTTEP for over $2bn. Murphy plans "to continue its current oil-weighted strategy in both the Eagle Ford shale and the Gulf of Mexico, while maintaining its focused exploration plan". Thus $750mn of the proceeds of its PTTEP deal will be earmarked for US oil-weighted opportunities through potential acquisitions and/or the funding of both deep-water projects and US onshore opportunities, the firm says. "Murphy had been keen to sell their assets for quite