A portion of Canadian shale natural gas acreage was sold to a Kuwaiti energy company for $1.3 billion, the Canadian subsidiary of Chevron said Monday.

"This sale demonstrates our focus on strategically managing our portfolio to maximize the value of our global upstream businesses and is consistent with our partnership strategy," Jay Johnson, a senior vice president for upstream operations at Chevron Corp., said in a statement.

Chevron sold a 30 percent stake in the Duvernay shale play in Alberta to the Canadian subsidiary of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co.

The deal creates a bilateral partnership for the appraisal of shale resources spread out across more than 300,000 acres of the Kaybob area of the Duvernay shale.

"The transaction provides us an expanded relationship with a valued partner," Johnson said.

Chevron has drilled more than a dozen wells in the Duvernay shale, yielding an initial rate of production of 7.5 million cubic feet of gas.

Chevron last year said the encouraging results from the Duvernay shale created "a foundation for future growth in Canada."