April 11 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi state oil company ADNOC

is considering a bid for natural gas assets of investment firm

Aethon Energy Management that could potentially be worth about

$9 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people

familiar with the matter.

ADNOC has done a string of acquisitions in gas and

chemicals, which along with LNG and renewables it considers as

pillars for its future growth.

Last year, the energy giant bought a stake in NextDecade's ( NEXT )

liquefied natural gas export project in Texas along

with a 20-year supply deal.

Deliberations regarding the U.S. energy-focused investment

firm's assets are in the early stages and no final agreements

have been reached, the report added.

Reuters in November reported that Aethon was exploring

options for its natural gas production and midstream assets that

include a sale or an initial public offering at a valuation of

about $10 billion.

The upstream assets of Aethon, which primarily focus on the

Haynesville shale formation in Louisiana and East Texas,

constitute one of the largest privately held U.S. gas producers.

ADNOC and Aethon did not immediately respond to Reuters

requests for comment.