POSCO International to acquire US shale gas assets for $550m

POSCO International will invest 750 billion won to acquire natural gas assets in the United States, securing a value chain that spans production through trading.

According to industry sources, POSCO International signed a definitive agreement Monday to acquire a 100 percent stake in shale gas assets held by a subsidiary of US energy exploration and production company Chord Energy. The assets are non-operated shale gas holdings in the Marcellus Basin in Pennsylvania, with an acquisition price of $550 million.

The acquisition covers 2,006 wells in total — 1,305 producing wells and 701 development wells. Proven reserves stand at 1.3 trillion standard cubic feet. Daily average output in the first quarter of this year was equivalent to approximately 1 million tons of LNG.

Currently, about 50 percent of the gas produced from the acquired assets is sold near the production site, 30 percent goes to the northeastern United States and Ohio, and the remaining 20 percent is routed through Tennessee to the Gulf Coast. POSCO International is in talks with local liquefaction operators to secure liquefaction contracts based on the roughly 20 percent of volume destined for the Gulf Coast.

"These are proven, already-producing assets," the company said at an investor briefing. "Gas sales and cash flow generation are possible immediately after the acquisition, without the need for large-scale upfront development investment."

The acquired assets generated EBITDA of approximately $80 million in 2025 and about $70 million in the first quarter of this year alone.

The acquisition strengthens POSCO International's competitiveness in the natural gas business. Beyond expanding North American gas output, the deal lays the groundwork for a value chain stretching from direct sales to liquefaction to LNG trading. The roughly 20 percent of natural gas flowing to the Gulf Coast could in the future be sold on the spot market or imported to South Korea.

The deal also reduces the company's exposure to energy price volatility. POSCO International had previously procured US LNG through long-term contracts, which left it vulnerable to rising purchase costs when global market conditions tightened. By securing upstream assets, the company now stands to benefit from higher production profits when gas prices rise.

"Asian companies, including Japan's Mitsubishi, have not only built LNG value chains by securing US gas fields but have also locked in supply stability," a POSCO International official said. "As the importance of US LNG grows, we determined that the company needed to act preemptively by securing upstream assets."

POSCO International has been broadening its new business portfolio to reduce its dependence on trading, its traditional core revenue source.

In 2022, the company acquired Australian natural gas producer Senex Energy, and in 2024 it completed the first LNG terminal in Gwangyang with an investment of more than 1 trillion won. In its automotive parts business, it is expanding production capacity for drive motor cores, a key electric vehicle component. Last year, it completed a factory in Poland. In its food business, it is increasing palm crude oil output in Indonesia.