Alaska Is the Biggest Bet Yet for Texas’s Anti-Shale Oil Billionaire

  • Hildebrand gained fortune buying old, conventional oil assets
  • Bet may be timely as investors begin to sour on shale
BP Exits Alaska After 60 Years in $5.6 Billion Hilcorp Sale
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Texas oilman Jeffery Hildebrand became a billionaire by shunning the shale revolution taking place in his home state. Now, he’s making his biggest bet yet -- Alaska -- just as shale producers run out of steam.

Hildebrand’s Hilcorp Energy Co. is buying a collection of old wells and pipelines from BP Plc for $5.6 billion as the oil major chases fast-growing shale production that has transformed global energy markets over the past decade. Meanwhile, the Alaskan wells have been in decline for years.