Marubeni sells Gulf of Mexico Big Foot oil and gas stake to redirect capital toward North American natural gas
AI-madeMarubeni just wrapped up the sale of its stake in Big Foot, a deepwater oil and gas asset in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that Chevron operates. The field sits about 225 miles south of New Orleans, in roughly 5,200 feet of water, and it’s been producing steadily since 2018. Marubeni wasn’t a late arrival—the company was involved from the development stage.
The exit marks a deliberate move away from an asset the Japanese trading house helped build from the ground up.
Marubeni exits Big Foot oil asset in U.S. Gulf of Mexico
The sale went through one of Marubeni’s wholly owned subsidiaries. While the transaction price has not been disclosed, Marubeni sold its 12.5% working interest to ME BigFoot LLC—a joint venture owned 90% by Tel Aviv-listed Modiin Energy and 10% by Eventide Partners.”
The Big Foot sale follows as a logical next step, freeing up capital from a mature oil asset to fund expansion in a sector the company sees as central to its future.
Big Foot produces crude oil at a capacity of 75,000 barrels per day under Chevron’s operation, running steadily since 2018. It sits firmly in deepwater territory, both literally and in terms of technical complexity.
Marubeni wasn’t just along for the ride. The company contributed to project planning and the physical construction of the offshore platform, getting involved well before first oil. This wasn’t a bet placed on an already-producing asset—Marubeni helped bring Big Foot online, which makes the eventual exit more notable than a typical portfolio trim.
A strategic pivot drives the divestiture decision
This sale didn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s a direct expression of Marubeni’s Mid-Term Management Strategy, known internally as GC2027, which carries a clear priority: accelerate investment recovery and redirect capital toward high-quality growth opportunities.
The growth opportunity Marubeni is focused on is natural gas — specifically, building a value chain across North America, from upstream production all the way to downstream distribution.
The timing makes the direction hard to miss. In June 2026, Marubeni announced the acquisition of EagleRidge Energy, a U.S.-based natural gas development and production company. The Big Foot sale follows as a logical next step, freeing up capital from a mature oil asset to fund expansion in a sector the company sees as central to its future. This is deliberate portfolio reshaping, not a one-off divestiture.
Proceeds and capital to flow into natural gas growth
Marubeni has been straightforward about where the money goes. Capital freed from the Big Foot sale will fund high-quality growth investments, with natural gas at the center of that plan.
The company frames natural gas as a key industry in the energy transition—positioning it not as a legacy fuel to be tolerated but as a bridge worth building around. That framing matters more than it might seem.
The strategy targets the full value chain: upstream production, midstream infrastructure, and downstream delivery. Marubeni wants exposure at every stage. Asset replacement is the stated mechanism — rather than simply shrinking its energy footprint, the company is swapping deepwater oil for natural gas and repositioning its portfolio for what it expects the next decade to look like. The goal, as Marubeni puts it, is to enhance corporate value.
Marubeni’s history with Big Foot and the broader Gulf of Mexico context
Marubeni’s involvement with Big Foot goes back further than most investors’. The company was in from the earliest stages, working alongside partners on planning and on the physical construction of the offshore platform. That kind of early-stage commitment usually signals long-term ownership intention.
The field delivered. Since production started in 2018, Big Foot has operated stably under Chevron’s management—and for Marubeni, that stability may have made this a good moment to sell. A producing, functioning asset is simply easier to divest than a troubled one.
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico isn’t going anywhere as an offshore production region. Energy companies are increasingly rethinking, though, how much capital they want tied up in pure oil assets — particularly deepwater ones that require sustained investment just to maintain output. Marubeni’s exit fits a pattern building across the industry, with major trading companies and diversified energy firms reducing oil exposure and leaning into gas, renewables, and transition-linked assets. Marubeni is following that current, but toward a specific destination: a fully integrated natural gas business in North America.
What this deal tells you
Here’s what to take away. Marubeni has sold its stake in Big Foot, a deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil field it helped develop and held since before production began in 2018. The sale is done, executed through a wholly owned subsidiary, with price and buyer undisclosed.
The divestiture is part of GC2027, Marubeni’s active mid-term strategy, which prioritizes capital reallocation toward natural gas. The company has already moved on that front with the acquisition of EagleRidge Energy, a U.S. natural gas producer—so the Big Foot sale isn’t a standalone decision so much as the next piece falling into place.
Proceeds will support further natural gas investment across the value chain in North America. Marubeni sees natural gas as a key energy transition industry and is using asset replacement—selling mature oil holdings and buying gas assets—as its primary tool to get there. The Big Foot field itself keeps running under Chevron’s operation. For Marubeni, that chapter is closed.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
