Mitsui & Co. said Tuesday it will invest about $1.4 billion to take part in a shale-gas development project in Pennsylvania, in hopes of taking advantage of the growing U.S. market for such gas.

Mitsui, which has businesses ranging from natural resources to chemicals to food, is a big player in the liquefied natural-gas, or LNG, market. Its most profitable business division in the fiscal third quarter ended December was energy, which includes its LNG operations. But in response to increased U.S. production of shale gas—deposits of natural gas trapped in shale-rock formations—the Japanese trading company decided to make a big bet in that market, too.

Mitsui's move into the Marcellus Shale, a rapidly developing natural-gas field in Pennsylvania, New York and other states, underscores the growing interest foreign companies have in gaining a foothold in shale-gas production. Chesapeake Energy Corp. has struck a deal with Norwegian oil and natural-gas producer Statoil ASA to develop the Marcellus and formed a joint venture with French energy company Total SA to develop the Barnett Shale, a natural-gas-rich formation in Texas

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