Oil & Gas Pro

Japanese companies become new players in Haynesville Shale

Japanese companies become new players in Haynesville Shale, buy assets in Louisiana, Texas

BY LIZ SWAINE | Staff writer  Feb. 20, 2026 shreveportbossieradvocate.com/business

A couple of new names are popping up in Haynesville Shale drilling permits: Adamas Energy LLC and JERA Americas Inc. 

Adamas is an arm of Mitsubishi Corp., which is in the process of finalizing a roughly $7.5 billion purchase of Aethon's assets and debt. Aethon has been a player in the Shale since 2017.

"Aethon has probably done more refracking of old wells than any other major player in the Haynesville Shale," Shreveport mineral consultant Skip Peel told The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate.

JERA is Japan's largest power-generating company. It produces one-third of Japan's electricity and is one of the largest Liquefied Natural Gas buyers in the world, according to its website.

JERA closed Feb. 12 on $1.5 billion of Western Haynesville assets of Williams and GEP Haynesville II, LLC that includes active wells and some 200 undeveloped locations.

The Houston-based company said it was drawn to the Haynesville Shale because of a list of positives: robust current production and proven reserves, gathering, treating and transport infrastructure, and proximity to both Gulf Coast LNG and data center hubs that will need its natural gas product for electricity.

"The U.S. energy sector is leading the way in the global LNG market and JERA's investments have lined up accordingly," said John O'Brien, JERA Americas' chief executive officer. 

Meanwhile, former Aethon drilling permits in Texas are being changed to reflect the new Adamas Energy name, so changes could be coming soon to permits in Louisiana.

The Tokyo-based company also owns a stake in the Cameron LNG export facility in Louisiana, and they, too, are predicting growth based on the power needs of artificial intelligence and data centers.

Japan's government has been encouraging firms in the country to invest more heavily in energy, believing that there will be higher AI-driven power demands over the next decade. The government is actively pushing renewables and nuclear power and has revised policies to include joint-venture LNG projects. 

Mitsubishi's deal with Aethon is expected to close within the next four months.

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Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on April 11, 2026 at 8:36

Scott, some lessors got no cost royalty clauses from their lessee that are not worth the paper they were written on when it comes to enforcing the clause in court.  Since your attorney was an experienced O&G attorney, I would see if he or she would write a demand letter on your behalf and place that in the record of correspondence.  Some attorneys don't write such letters that threaten litigation unless their client will fund a suit.  Attorneys that threaten and do not follow through are soon ignored by the operator.  I have seen instances where a well worded, certified letter got a response of -  "our mistake, we will stop deducting post production costs and refund you what we took accidentally".  That is worth a shot if you haven't taken that step.


Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Rock Man on April 12, 2026 at 6:35

I know that Skip has replied to you @ this issue, but I just wanted to add that I am aware of examples where an operator was "challenged" by the mineral owner about inappropriate deductions and that these deductions were then reversed and paid to the mineral owner.

One specific example in the Permian Basin involved OXY and over $250,000 in inappropriate deductions. No lawyer involved in this effort - just a well written letter highlighting the lease terms and specifics and requesting that OXY reverse these charges. No threat of legal action proposed. Just a clear request to honor the lease and the resultant response by the operator that a mistake had been made.

Parallel to this reversal of charges was a request to pay for flared gas as per the lease terms - this mineral owner was also paid on this item.

I know this for a fact since I was involved with helping the mineral owner put together these communications.

Obvious key here is how the lease is written as to these "no cost" issues.

  • Plus, I will say that some operators are easier to work with on these types of issues than others.

I personally know of another major Permian operator who has continually ignored and never responded to similar requests.


landownerPermalink Reply by Scott Walberg on April 12, 2026 at 18:37
Thank you Skip and Rock Man. Much appreciated!!

landownerPermalink Reply by Farmer on March 22, 2026 at 7:17
Our Aethon Share was bought out by Adamas.
Our checks came right on time with no problems, not long after getting the letter telling of the buyout.
Good luck in the future.
Permalink Reply by Gale on March 22, 2026 at 10:55

At least you got a letter! We got nothing but no checks! 

Permalink Reply by bes on March 24, 2026 at 9:54

FYI:

Adamas (formerly Aethon) did run across some trouble in the transition.  Some checks got mailed out with an incorrect bank account number and the royalty owner's bank charged a fee against the owner of the bank account when deposting the incorrect check.  The correct check came about 2 weeks later.  But, other than that, checks did come right on time.  


landownerPermalink Reply by Mike Wilson on April 4, 2026 at 3:56

Same as you, we got the letter first and the Adamas direct deposit  was right on time. The direct deposit gives us payment on or before the last day of the month. When we waited on a check it was not here in the mail until the 5th or 6th of the next month. 

Permalink Reply by Rose on April 3, 2026 at 21:06
Hi Skip! I had your email address once then lost it so could you please provide it again? My brother got an offer to sell his piece of our mineral rights in the Haynesville shale and I’m needing your professional input. You can email me at gbyakys@gmail.com when you have a moment. Thank you. Rose ~

Oil & Gas ProPermalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on April 4, 2026 at 1:13

Hi Rose. Click on my name in blue and it will take you to my personal page.  There you will find my email address and phone number.

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