Japan’s Mitsubishi to acquire shale gas assets in Texas and Louisiana in a $7.5 billion deal
On Thursday, January 15, 2026, Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo, Japan. sign outside its headquarters. Mitsubishi agreed to buy Aethon Energy Management LLC’s U.S. gas and pipeline assets for $5.2 billion; This was the largest acquisition by a Japanese company in the American shale oil industry. Photographer: Takaaki Iwabu/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Mitsubishi Corporation The Japanese trading house will buy U.S. shale gas assets in a $7.53 billion deal including debt, it said on Friday, as it seeks to strengthen its presence in the country’s energy market.
Mitsubishi plans to capitalize on rising power needs from data centres, manufacturing and LNG exports by expanding in the world’s largest gas market, citing domestic consumption, production, export and further demand growth.
It will acquire the assets from Aethon Energy Management in Texas and Louisiana in a transaction that includes $5.2 billion in stock purchases and $2.33 billion in Aethon debt.
In a filing Mitsubishi said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange that the investment will strengthen the earnings base of the company’s natural gas and LNG businesses.
This will also accelerate efforts to create an integrated value chain in the U.S. “from gas development to power generation, data center development, chemical manufacturing and related businesses,” the company said.
Mitsubishi shares fell 2% after the transaction was announced.
The company has numerous investments in natural gas, with projects in Alaska, Malaysia, Canada and Indonesia, among others. Mitsubishi currently has total own LNG production of approximately 15 million metric tons per year.
The company said it also plans to expand in the United States by venturing into power generation and manufacturing businesses that take advantage of competitive gas projects.
Mitsubishi currently has partnerships in upstream shale gas development with US energy company Ovintiv in British Columbia, Canada, midstream marketing and logistics through its subsidiary CIMA Energy in Houston, and LNG exports through LNG Canada and Cameron LNG.
