Inpex, a Japanese company, will buy a stake in the Australian Browse gasfield from PetroChina
Inpex, a Japanese company, announced on Friday that it would buy PetroChina's 10% share in the Browse gas field offshore of Western Australia. This is the largest undeveloped gas resource for the country.
The Japanese company did not reveal the price they paid for the Chinese giant’s 10,67% stake in Brecknock Calliance Torosa Gas Fields.
The sale and purchase of goods would only be completed after regulatory approvals, and the agreement between joint venture partners.
PetroChina purchased its stake in the Browse project operated by Woodside Energy from BHP for $1.63billion in December 2012.
Woodside also runs the North West Shelf Liquefied Natural Gas Facility. The fields have been earmarked for gas supply. The project, which has been delayed for years, is estimated to cost A$48.7billion ($35billion), including carbon-capture.
Saul Kavonic, a Marquee analyst at MST Marquee, said: "This could lead to an existing Browse joint venture member exercising their pre-emption rights."
The partners include?operator Woodside Energy BP, and Japan LNG which is a joint-venture between Mitsui, and Mitsubishi.
BP now holds the biggest stake, after purchasing Shell's stake by 2023. Meg O'Neill is the new CEO of BP, formerly Woodside's CEO.
Kavonic stated that Inpex may want to send gas to its Ichthys LNG facility located in Darwin.
Inpex's spokesperson responded that Browse is still at the feasibility stage, and "no decisions" have been taken. They added that more information should be obtained from operator Woodside.
A Woodside spokesperson stated that the interest in the Browse joint venture was not surprising.
"Woodside is continuing to progress the Browse to North West Shelf Project which could?make an important contribution to the energy supply in the region."
BP refused to comment. PetroChina didn't immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Mitsui and Mitsubishi did not respond immediately to an email asking for their views.
Inpex has also taken a stake in the Beetaloo onshore shale-gas basin in the Northern Territory. Helen Clark, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sonali Paul edited the article.
(source: Reuters)
