Woodside Energy in Australia says that it has no knowledge of any Exxon Mobil proposal.

Woodside Energy, Australia's energy company, said on Monday that it was not aware of any?proposal by Exxon Mobil in the United States and had not been involved in discussions about a possible transaction. This is in response to recent media speculation.

Woodside's share price fell by 2.7% on the Australian Stock Exchange in the early trading on Monday. Oil prices dropped 4%, to their lowest level since March. This was after the U.S. announced that it had reached a preliminary?deal with Iran to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The secondary U.S. listed shares of Exxon rose 8.35% after Bloomberg reported that Exxon is considering Woodside for a possible takeover target as part its efforts to increase its presence in the?liquefied gas and /or?Asian market.

Woodside confirmed on Monday that it was not in talks with Exxon Mobil Corporation regarding any potential deal. "In response to recent speculations, Woodside does not know of any proposal.

Exxon Australia has declined to comment.

Western Australia Premier Roger Cook stated 'on Sunday that the state government will oppose any takeover which involves relocating Woodside headquarters from Perth where it is based since the 1990s.

Cook stated in a Sunday statement that "Overseas interest have tried to acquire Woodside previously and the reasons why it was defeated before have not changed."

Woodside, 'Australia's top LNG exporter', recently increased its stake in the Browse project from about 40% to 42% after preempting Inpex's purchase of PetroChina’s 10.67% of 'Australia's biggest undeveloped gas resource'.

Woodside's shares held up better than Santos in Australia which dropped 4.3%.

(source: Reuters)