Japanese trading giant Mitsui has teamed with AWE to bid up to $200 million forOrigin Energy’s Perth Basin assets. Industry sources say the consortium is the frontrunner in an auction Origin is thought to want finalised by August.
Although their bid is not as high as the rumoured $200 million to $245 million offer submitted by Warro gas field co-owner Transerv, Mitsui and AWE’s financial muscle and history in the Perth Basin are expected to put them in pole position.
Private equity-backed Quadrant Energy is understood to have submitted a low-ball offer, leaving WA’s second-biggest domestic gas producer virtually no chance of adding to its Pilbara-focused operations.
The jewel in Origin’s Perth Basin portfolio is a half-stake in the Waitsia gas field, near Dongara, that is operated by the other 50 per cent owner, AWE. AWE on Friday upgraded Waitsia’s proven and probable reserves by 93 per cent to 344 billion cubic feet. The broader contingent resource, when adding the related Senecio, Irwin and Synaphea fields, rose to 867bcf.
None of the players involved would comment yesterday.
Mitsui’s emergence as a Perth Basin entrant comes just weeks before the Japanese giant is expected to sanction the Woodside Petroleum-run $2 billion Greater Enfield oil development, in which it has a 40 per cent stake. Mitsui is also an investor in the Woodside-run North West Shelf and Browse LNG assets.
Origin managing director Grant King, speaking alongside the APPEA conference in Brisbane yesterday, confirmed the auction was under way but would not comment on specifics. Origin, operator of one of the three Gladstone coal-seam gas LNG players, wants to dispose of the non-core Perth Basin part of its east coast-centric portfolio.
It is in direct contrast to AWE, which has sold out of the US and is targeting the Perth Basin. However, it comes at a time when AWE itself is the target of a hostile takeover bid from US private equity group Lone Star.
石油圈
