India's Reliance buys $1.7b stake in US gas field

India's energy giant Reliance Industries said Friday it had signed a joint venture with Atlas Energy for a 1.7 billion dollar stake in a US-based natural gas field.
India's largest private firm has now gained an overseas foothold through the Marcellus Shale deal, in what it calls one of "the most exciting" upstream markets of the world.
As part of the deal Reliance will pay 339 million dollars in cash and a further 1.36 billion dollars to fund part of Atlas's drilling expenses and develop the project, the companies said.
The gas project spreads across parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York in the United States.
Reliance will acquire 40 percent -- or 120,000 acres -- of the total 300,000 acres in Atlas's core Marcellus position.
Pennsylvania-based Atlas will be the development operator of the JV, with a 60 percent stake.
"This is significant value creation for Reliance," said Alok Agarwal, chief financial officer of Reliance Industries in a short press briefing late Friday.