(Corrects spelling of Chesapeake in headline)
* Total says paying much less for control of Barnet Shale
* Bought 25 pct of assets for $800 mln in 2009
* Barnett Shale produces about 65,000 boe per day
By Bate Felix
PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - French oil and gas company Total will increase its exposure to U.S. shale gas by buying75 percent of Barnett Shale assets from Chesapeake,taking advantage of a far lower price than it paid for itsoriginal 25 percent holding.
Total joins other European oil majors including Royal DutchShell, BP and Statoil which haveincreased their presence in U.S. shale oil and gas production inrecent years, hoping to mimic smaller, independent companies.
Shale's low costs compared to complex offshore fields andits rapid production cycles has attracted the oil majors, whichhave all had to slash spending budgets and shelve many largeprojects during the current downturn.
Total bought a 25 percent stake in Barnett Shale gas fieldsin north Texas in 2009 for $800 million in cash, plus $1.45billion toward the fields' development over six years.
Although the French group has cut spending on U.S. shaleproduction following the fall in oil prices over the past twoyears, it said the Barnett Shale deal was opportunity-driven andmade possible by its preemption rights.
Located in north Texas with a net production ofapproximately 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, Barnettshale includes 215,000 developed and undeveloped acres of land,wells, leases, minerals, buildings and other properties.
"With the new conditions created by the exit of Chesapeakeand the associated restructuring of the midstream contracts, webelieve that we can extract significant value from thesubstantial, well-located resource base," Jose Ignacio Sanz,head of Total E&P in United States, said in a statement.
Under the terms of the deal, Chesapeake will pay $334million to Williams, a company that gathers and processes 80percent of the gas from the Barnett assets, to terminate itsgathering agreement, it said.
"Total E&P USA will supplement Chesapeake's payment with$420 million to Williams for a fully restructured, competitivegas gathering agreement," the statement said, adding that Totalwill also pay $138 million to be released from three othermidstream capacity reservation contracts. (Additional reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Geert De Clercqand Alexander Smith)
