Dealflow | October 21, 2022

ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Oil giants’ biogas acquisitions

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, October 21 — Oil majors looking to phase out of fossil fuels are buying their way into the energy transition. Shell and BP made headlines this week as the oil and gas giants look to expand their biogas portfolios through strategic acquisitions.

BP acquired Houston-based renewable natural gas producer Archaea Energy in a deal valued at $4.1 billion. “There’s more demand for this product than there is supply,” BP’s Bernard Looney told Reuters.

The acquisition will increase BP’s biogas supply by 50%.

Shell is bidding to acquire Danish biogas producer Nature Energy. The deal, which is set to close by the end of this year, could value the company at $2 billion, according to Reuters.

Legal woes

The news comes as the state of New Jersey sued Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips for “systematically concealing and denying their knowledge that fossil fuel consumption could have a catastrophic impact on the climate,” said the state’s attorney general Matthew Platkin. More than a half-dozen similar suits have been filed by U.S. cities and states.