By Shariq Khan
NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Commodities trader Gunvor is in talks to buy U.S. natural gas-producing assets from private energy firm Silver Hill Energy Partners, expanding efforts to build an integrated shale gas production and marketing business, four sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
If successful, the Silver Hill acquisition would be the latest in a string of U.S. natural gas-focused deals struck by Gunvor since 2024, betting on a boom in demand for power generation from energy-hungry AI data centers and new export terminals opening along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The purchase price under consideration for the Silver Hill assets, spread across the Haynesville shale basin of Texas and Louisiana, is between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, two of the sources said. Oklahoma City-based Western Natural, an oil and gas producer that Gunvor financially backed earlier this year, will operate the assets if the talks are successful, the sources said.
The talks between Gunvor and Silver Hill are at an early stage and a deal is not guaranteed, the sources cautioned. They requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters.
Gunvor declined to comment. Silver Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Western Natural could not be reached for comment.
The potential acquisition of Silver Hill assets would be Gunvor’s second deal in the Haynesville basin this year. It had earlier provided capital to support Western Natural’s approximately $300 million purchase of Haynesville gas-producing assets, Reuters reported in June.
Silver Hill owns around 58,000 net acres across East Texas and Louisiana, with net estimated production of about 370 million cubic feet equivalent per day, according to estimates from energy consultancy Rystad, which had pegged the company as a potential acquisition target in a May report highlighting growing interest in Haynesville mergers and acquisitions.
The Haynesville basin has been especially attractive to investors seeking exposure to U.S. liquefied natural gas exports, due to its high production and proximity to existing and upcoming LNG terminals.
The Iran war has further raised interest in U.S. natural gas exports, with importers around the world scrambling to find alternatives to Middle Eastern supplies stranded by Tehran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
COMMODITIES TRADERS RAISE U.S. GAS BETS
Gunvor’s efforts to expand in U.S. natural gas mark a strategic pivot that has largely coincided with the appointment of American-born Gary Pedersen as the firm’s CEO after a management buyout of co-founder Torbjorn Tornqvist last year.
In addition to the Western Natural deals, Gunvor has also expanded in the U.S. gas trading space this year, adding its second LNG long-term offtake deal with Delfin Midstream in May.
Other commodities traders, including top energy trader Vitol and hedge fund Citadel, have also amassed interests in U.S. natural gas-producing and exporting facilities in recent years, using record profits to invest in upstream and downstream assets that could give them more flexibility in their core trading operations.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan and David French in New York, Robert Harvey in LondonEditing by Liz Hampton and Lisa Shumaker)
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