On Thursday, Chevron Corp. stated that it has decided to put on sale its stake in Australia’s biggest and oldest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, the North West Shelf.
The decision came after the project runs out of gas and is now shifting towards becoming a facility that will process gas into LNG for third parties. Chevron has also failed to win a gas supply deal to the plant from its undeveloped Clio and Acme fields.
According to an analyst, Chevron’s stake in the project could sum up to USD3-4 billion.
The company has gained a number of unsolicited approaches from a range of credible buyers. Analysts expected infrastructure investors as well as NWS LNG operator and co-owner Woodside Petroleum to have made an offer as it is well-positioned financially and has announced it is ready and looking for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) opportunities in Australia.
The sale would be a part of the US energy major’s effort to meet its asset sales target between 2018 and 2020 of USD5-10 billion.
Aside from Chevron, the other owners of the project are BHP Group, BP Plc., Royal Dutch Shell, and a joint venture between Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co.
Over the life of the 30-year old project, the partners have invested beyond AUD34 billion (USD23 billion). However, the gas fields that feed the plant are expected to start running out in the next few years. They are now finding the line-up of supply from new fields, and plan to charge a fee to process that gas from third parties.
