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Friday, 29 August, 2008, 01:20 GMT | more prices >>

RWE stumps up $500m for Excelerate bite



By Upstream staff 

German player RWE said today it agreed to buy half of US gas transport company Excelerate for $500 million as it seeks to cash in on surging demand for the fuel.

RWE bought the stake in the company, which transports liquefied natural gas, from US banker-oilman George Kaiser, who will keep the remaining half of the business, it said.

"Excelerate's business also provides an ideal link between RWE Dea's gas exploration and production activities, particularly in North Africa, our customers and the global gas market," the company said.

Chief executive Jurgen Grossmann, who called gas RWE's "weak point", clinched the deal a week after an agreement worth about €1 billion ($1.46 billion) to join a consortium to build the Nabucco pipeline to ship gas from the Caspian Sea to Austria.

Excelerate has a long-term charter for four vessels and might increase its fleet to nine vessels by 2010, RWE said.

It owns the Teeside regasification port in the UK - which has never been in operation commercially since it was opened a year ago - and two gateways connected to the US gas network.


Thursday, 14 February, 2008, 16:26 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 14 February, 2008, 16:26 GMT

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