(Jan 16): Mitsubishi Corp agreed to buy Aethon Energy Management LLC’s US gas and pipeline assets for US$5.2 billion ($6.7 billion), the biggest purchase by a Japanese company in the American shale sector.
Aethon III LLC, Aethon United LP, and related entities and interests will be sold to Mitsubishi, the Japanese company said in a statement on Friday. The firms had been working on a deal since at least the middle of 2025.
Japanese energy companies are looking to expand into US oil and gas following renewed support from President Donald Trump’s administration, which is pressuring Tokyo to invest more in the North American country. The move also means that Mitsubishi — which counts Berkshire Hathaway Inc as a major shareholder — is doubling down on one of its most profitable businesses: natural gas.
Mitsubishi will make a US$5.2 billion investment in the assets, plus Aethon’s debt of US$2.33 billion, according to another statement, putting the enterprise value of the company at US$7.5 billion. Aethon Energy Management has the right to buy back up to 25% of Aethon’s upstream and midstream assets.
“The US gas market is the world’s largest in domestic demand, production, and exports, and further demand growth is expected, driven by rising power needs from AI / data centres,” Mitsubishi said.
Albert Huddleston, who founded Aethon, and his family are poised to reap a major financial windfall from the deal. Based in Dallas, the company is among the most active drillers in the Haynesville shale basin in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana, and is located close to several LNG export terminals along the Gulf Coast.
Mitsubishi, one of Japan’s major trading houses, is a key supplier of liquefied natural gas and already has a stake in a US export facility in Louisiana. Japan’s government sees the artificial intelligence boom as potentially lifting power demand over the next decade, and has urged the nation’s private firms to invest more in gas.
Tokyo Gas Co bought US shale gas operator Rockcliff Energy II LLC for US$2.7 billion in 2023, while Jera Co recently acquired a stake in a shale gas asset in western Louisiana.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
