Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian oil and gas major Woodside will acquire half of mining giant BHP Billiton’s Scarborough gas assets, offshore Western Australia.
The two companies on Monday announced the signing of a sale and purchase agreement under which Woodside would pay BHP $250-million and a contingent payment of $150-million upon a positive final investment decision to develop the Scarborough field.
The Scarborough area assets include the Scarborough, Thebe and Jupiter fields, which are estimated to contain about 8.7-trillion cubic feet of gas resource, with Woodside’s net share of the resource estimated to be 2.6-trillion cubic feet of gas.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said that adding the Carnarvon basin volumes to the Australian portfolio would complement the company’s growth strategy and leverage Woodside’s deep-water and liquefied natural gas (LNG) capabilities.
BHP president for petroleum operations Steve Pastor said that the company considered the proposed sale to be a positive outcome for all parties.
“Woodside is a strong partner with substantial LNG experience in Western Australia, and we believe they will contribute positively to the future development of the Scarborough resource.”
Under the proposed transaction, ExxonMobil, which holds a 50% stake in the area, will remain operator of Scarborough, while operatorship of North Scarborough will transfer from BHP to Woodside.
The transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including joint partner pre-emption rights and regulatory approvals.