Page 9 - GLNG Week 49 2021

GLNG ASIA GLNG

ConocoPhillips is
exercising its right
to buy an additional
10% stake in Australia
Pacific LNG.

ConocoPhillips makes moves

in Indonesia, Australia

INVESTMENT US-BASED ConocoPhillips has announced two Origin will remain the operator of the
major transactions in Asia. Under the first, the upstream part of APLNG, though its interest in
company has agreed to sell its assets in Indonesia the project will fall to 27.5%. ConocoPhillips is
to MedcoEnergi for $1.355bn. Under the second, the operator of the downstream part of the pro-
it is exercising its right to buy an additional 10% ject, including the two-train liquefaction plant
stake in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) from on Curtis Island, Queensland. Sinopec is the big-
Origin Energy, pre-empting the sale of that stake gest offtaker from the project, with sales and pur-
to EIG Global Energy Partners. chase agreements (SPAs) covering 7.6mn tonnes
The transactions are the latest in a series of per year (tpy) of LNG.
major moves that ConocoPhillips has made to EIG has not commented on having its plans Origin previously
refine its global portfolio, shedding non-core to buy into APLNG fall through. This is the sec-
assets while increasing its interests in what it ond time in recent years that the company has announced in
views as key projects. Last week, the company had its ambitions in Australia thwarted. In 2018,
closed its $9.5bn acquisition of Royal Dutch it made a AUD14.4bn ($10.3bn) offer to buy October that it
Shell’s Permian Basin assets. Its move to buy the Australia’s Santos via Harbour Energy, which
additional stake in APLNG illustrates growing it backs. However, Santos’ board rejected that had agreed to sell
interest in investing in LNG projects as prices for offer. the stake to EIG.
the super-chilled fuel remain high. If Sinopec does not exercise its own right to
ConocoPhillips will spend up to $1.645bn on buy the APLNG stake, ConocoPhillips antici-
the APLNG stake, which it said would be funded pates its purchase closing in the first quarter of
with cash from its balance sheet. The company 2022.
currently owns a 37.5% interest in the project, Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips’ exit from Indo-
which would be raised to 47.5% upon closing of nesia involves it selling the subsidiary that indi-
the transaction. rectly owns its 54% interest in the Indonesia
Origin previously announced in October Corridor Block production-sharing contract
that it had agreed to sell the stake to EIG, with (PSC) and a 35% stake in Transasia Pipeline.
proceeds from the sale set to be used to deliver These assets produced roughly 50,000 barrels of
returns to shareholders and pay down debt. Chi- oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first nine
na’s Sinopec, which owns a 25% stake in APLNG, months of 2021 and had reserves of around
also has pre-emptive rights to acquire the stake, 85mn boe as of the end of 2020.
and has until December 17 to exercise those That transaction is also anticipated to close
rights. in early 2022.™

Week 49 10•December•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9