XRG, the energy investment arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., agreed to pay $1.45 billion for Shell Plc's stake in the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project, the latest deal as the Middle Eastern firm seeks global expansion. The facility has capacity to liquefy 14.3 million tons a year of gas, nearly 3% of global total LNG capacity. XRG aims to become among the world's top five LNG suppliers.
Tuesday's agreement is the first in Australia after the company pulled a bid to buy local producer Santos Ltd. last year. While Shell continues to double down on LNG, it reported in September it would explore a sale of its 16.67% stake due to a planned transition into a third-party tolling facility. The sale "realizes value from a mature, non-operated asset," said Cederic Cremers, Shell's integrated gas president, who noted an additional milestone-linked contingent payment may be linked to plans to develop the Browse fields and ship gas to North West Shelf.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd. operates the plant. Other partners include BP Plc, CNOOC Ltd. and a venture between Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing