Chord Energy Sells Non-Operated Marcellus Position to POSCO for $550 Million

Chord Energy agreed to sell its entire non-operated Marcellus position in northeast Pennsylvania to POSCO International Corporation for $550 million. The assets span roughly 32,000 net acres and produced 121 MMcf/d of residue gas on a trailing 12-month basis, according to the announcement carried by PR Newswire.

The price says something about how non-operated Appalachian gas has repriced since Chord first picked up this acreage. When Chord and Enerplus combined in an $11.1 billion merger announced in early 2024, analysts tracked by Enverus valued the same Marcellus position at approximately $1 billion. Neither company's disclosures break out how much of the gap to $550 million reflects two years of reserve depletion versus a broader repricing of non-operated Appalachian gas since the merger closed.

What Chord is selling

The acreage sits in northeast Pennsylvania and produces 100% residue dry gas with no NGL stream, according to Marcellus Drilling News, which reported on September 17 that Chord had been shopping the position since July 2025. Newsbase, reporting the same day as the initial announcement, put the underlying reserve base at 1.3 tcf across 2,006 wells — 1,305 producing and 701 in various stages of development.

Chord CEO Danny Brown framed the sale as portfolio discipline rather than a distressed exit. The divestiture, he said, builds on a "track record of disciplined capital allocation" and follows the identification of the Marcellus position as "non-core" after the Enerplus transaction closed in 2024.

Investing.com reported the $550 million price equates to roughly 6x adjusted EBITDA at a $3.50/MMBtu Henry Hub assumption. Moelis & Company and RBC Capital Markets advised Chord on the sale.

Terms and timing

StreetInsider reported the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 with an effective date of July 1, 2026, and that Chord has already collected a $55 million deposit. TradingView, in a September 18 analysis, described that remaining position as 1.3 million net acres in a single basin — a figure this publication could not independently confirm against Chord's own filings.

Legal work on the deal was split along national lines. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe represented Chord, with the team led by Joe Roger and Adam Kowis, according to legal trade coverage from The Grey Matter. DLA Piper acted for POSCO International, and Bank of America advised the buyer.

Why POSCO wants dry Marcellus gas

POSCO International's rationale is not a production play so much as a supply-chain hedge. Dong-il Kim, head of the company's E&P Business Division, said the investment connects "gas sales, liquefaction, LNG trading, and group demand." An investor presentation POSCO published on September 16 said the acquisition is meant to mitigate price volatility for the group's U.S. LNG imports, with a portion of the produced gas earmarked for liquefaction plants beginning in 2029.

The current offtake pattern shows why the asset fits that thesis. Per the same presentation, 50% of production sells near the wellhead, 30% moves to the Northeast and Ohio markets, and 20% reaches the Gulf Coast. That distribution gives POSCO a domestic gas position it can eventually route into its own liquefaction chain rather than buying spot cargoes.

Financing for the deal runs through POSCO's U.S. subsidiary. The Korea Herald reported on September 17 that POSCO International E&P USA will raise 532.9 billion won through a rights offering, with the Korean parent providing an additional 266.1 billion won in loans, and that POSCO expects the asset to generate more than 100 billion won in annual operating profit starting in 2028.

What the deal does not settle is what Chord's blended realized gas price looks like once the Marcellus volumes are gone. A single third-party analysis has floated a double-digit percentage decline on the theory that Marcellus gas commands a premium to Williston gas, but that basis relationship runs against the historical discount Appalachian residue gas has traded at on constrained Northeast takeaway, and no primary source in this reporting confirms either the direction or the size of the move.

Links Verified at Time of Publish.

Sources

This article was reported from the following sources.

1. Chord Energy Announces Divestiture of Non-Operated Marcellus Assets — PR Newswire, 2026-09-16
2. POSCO to acquire Chord's Marcellus gas assets for $550 million — Newsbase, 2026-09-16
3. Chord Energy sells Marcellus gas assets to Posco International for $550M — StreetInsider, 2026-09-16
4. Posco International invests $550m in US shale gas — The Korea Herald, 2026-09-17
5. South Korea's POSCO Buys Chord's NEPA Non-Op Marcellus for $550M — Marcellus Drilling News, 2026-09-17
6. Chord Energy to sell Marcellus assets for $550 million — Investing.com, 2026-09-16
7. Orrick, DLA Piper Act On Chord Energy's $550M Sale Of Non-Operated Marcellus Assets — The Grey Matter (Legal News), 2026-09-17
8. Chord Energy's $550M Marcellus Exit Sharpens Its Williston Focus — TradingView, 2026-09-18
9. Acquisition of US shale gas assets (Investor Presentation) — POSCO International, 2026-09-16
10. Chord and Enerplus Combine in $11.1 Billion Deal to Form Williston Giant — Enverus, 2024-03-01