BP and Lewis Energy reach JV deal across 80,000 acres in Webb County, TX.  Industry representatives report that BP paid Lewis Energy (Lewis Petroleum Properties) $160 million ($4,000 per acre) for a 50% interest in 80,000 acres in the dry gas window of the Eagle Ford Shale.

"BP has made a joint- venture deal with privately held Lewis Energy Group that will expand the British oil giant's position in the U.S. natural gas business and find it entering a fast-emerging field in South Texas, according to a person familiar with the situation." "The deal would be the latest in a string of similar moves by major oil companies to enter or expand in unconventional rock formations in the U.S., where huge amounts of natural gas have been discovered in recent years."

"In December, Exxon Mobil Corp. said it would acquire Fort Worth's XTO Energy in a deal valued at $41 billion. A month later, France's Total agreed to pay $2.3 billion for 25 percent of Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s acreage in the Barnett Shale play in North Texas, and the companies said they may jointly develop acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale and in several Canadian natural gas plays."

Read the full article at Chron.com