SK Innovation announced on March 7 that it would sell its stake in U.S. shale oil mines and all sorts of facilities related to shale oil mines as part of its decarbonizing strategy.
SK Innovation established an U.S. affiliate called SK E&P America in 2014 for its oil business in the United States. Stakes in U.S. shale oil mines and entire assets owned by SK Plymouth and SK Nemaha, which are subsidiaries of SK E&P America, are expected to be sold as part of SK Innovation’s plan.
SK Innovation has decided to sell business rights and assets owned by SK Plymouth and SK Nemaha to BenchMark Energy Corp. SK Innovation and BenchMark signed a contract in January and will complete every necessary procedure by the end of this month. The two companies have decided not to disclose the amount of sale price.
SK E&P America acquired stakes in shale oil mines in Grant and Garfield counties of Oklahoma and Crane county of Texas in 2014. In 2018, it established SK Nemaha and acquire entire stakes of an American shale oil production company called Longfellow and secured additional mines in Garfield and Kingfisher counties.
By selling these mines, SK Innovation will be able to speed up its decarbonizing process in order to achieve “Green Balance 2030”.
A representative for the company said that the sale is part of the company’s goal to achieve decarbonization and that the company will accelerate change of its portfolio and focus on development of mines that it currently has in Southeast Asia.
Staff Reporter Kim, Jiwoong | jw0316@etnews.com