At the investor briefing held in Sydney, Australia on May 23, 2018, the logo of Australia's largest independent oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum Company was decorated with a promotional poster. REUTERS/David Gray
Melbourne, November 15 (Reuters)-Australia's Woodside Petroleum Corporation (WPL.AX) took a big step towards funding its largest growth project on Monday, announcing the sale of its Pluto Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) planned expansion 49% of the shares. Factory in Western Australia.
In a statement, Australia's largest independent oil and gas company stated that it has agreed to sell a 49% stake in the planned second processing unit or "train" of the Pluto LNG plant to private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
Before making final investment decisions on the $12 billion Scarborough Gas Project and the Pluto LNG expansion project before December 15th, Woodside has been looking for nearly two years to lock in the sale of equity, which will Make the natural gas of Scarborough gas field super-cooled for export.
According to the agreement, GIP will pay 49% of its $5.6 billion Pluto Train 2 construction cost, plus $835 million. If the cost of the project is too high or the project is delayed, the $835 million may be reduced, and if the cost is lower than budget, the GIP will reward Woodside.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said in a statement: “As we progress on our final investment decision on the Scarborough development project, the sale of the interest in Pluto Train 2 is an important milestone, further reducing this The risk of a globally competitive investment."
The transaction also includes provisions for compensating GIP for emissions liability for undisclosed baselines. GIP will receive revenue from undisclosed fees charged by the Pluto LNG plant for processing Scarborough natural gas.
After the news was announced, Woodside's stock price rose 1.8%, while its peers remained flat or weakened.
Credit Suisse said that although Woodside has achieved a key milestone, the company is taking a certain degree of construction risk, and the cost of the project is as high as 30%.
“Although management has stated in the past that (Woodside) will share all risks with any new partners,” Credit Suisse analyst Saul Kavonic said in a report.
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