It is a good time for Chinese companies to buy into US natural gas projects given the low international natural gas prices, experts said, after media reported that the head of China's largest energy company paid a visit to the US to talk about a possible gas shale assets acquisition, Global Times reported.
Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec Corp, was in Oklahoma last week to explore the possibility of a bid for a shale gas project, which is owned by Chesapeake Energy, the second largest shale gas producer in the US, Reuters reported.
"Natural gas prices are currently at a low level in the US, mainly affected by overproduction and sluggish demand in the country," said Lin Boqiang, director of the Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, adding that international energy prices may remain at a low level under the current global economic gloom.
The US-based gas producer is facing financial difficulties due to its fast expansion, a fact which will help Sinopec to get a good bargain in the potential assets deal, the news agency reported Lin as saying.