Sinopec to purchase US oil & gas fields

Beijing (CNS) -- Sinopec International Exploration and Production Corporation (SIPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinopec Group has reached an agreement with American Devon Energy Corporation to buy one third of its assets and equities in five shale oil and gas fields for 2.2 billion USD.

The five unconventional oil and gas projects are located in Niobrara, Mississippi, Utica Ohio, Utica Michigan and Tuscaloosa, and altogether cover 1,644 square kilometers (about 406,300 acres).

The deal price, adjustable to the real size of the fields at the transaction point, has been 30 percent prepaid and is expected to be concluded by the end of 2014, according to Sinopec.

The Chinese energy giant ranks fifth among 2011 Fortune 500, and this marks its first purchase in the U.S., certainly the beginning of an adventure in the American oil and gas market.