Japanese gas utility acquires North Louisiana upstream assets in $245M+ deal

(Courtesy Tokyo Gas America Ltd.)

A company now owned primarily by Japan’s largest gas utility company has acquired the Terryville upstream assets in North Louisiana from subsidiaries of Range Resources Corporation.

On Monday, Castleton Resources announced it has closed on the deal, prompting Tokyo Gas America Ltd.—which supplies gas and power to 11 million customers in the greater Tokyo area—to up its ownership stake in the company from 46% to approximately 70%, with the balance held by Castleton Commodities International LLC.

Under the terms of the $245 million deal, plus contingent payments that are a function of commodity prices, Range will retain certain midstream commitments through their remaining term.

Castleton Resources, a Houston company whose primary business is upstream development in East Texas and North Louisiana targeting Haynesville and Cotton Valley formations, now owns over 315,000 net acres of leasehold in East Texas and Northern Louisiana with total daily net production of nearly 500 MMcfe/d.

“We are pleased with the strategic partnership we have developed with Tokyo Gas since their initial investment in Castleton Resources in May 2017,” Nicholas Haslett, CCI’s global head of principal investments and chief strategy officer, said in a prepared statement. “The closing of this transaction is a pivotal moment for Castleton Resources and we look forward to our continued relationship with Tokyo Gas.”

Castleton Resources President and CEO Craig Jarchow said the acquisition provides “important scale to our current operations and is accretive to our business.”

Castleton Resources, one of the largest producers in the Ark-La-Tex region of East Texas and Northern Louisiana, will change its name to TG Natural Resources LLC by late March 2021.

Read the announcement.