Perth’s Arc Energy winning bidder for the oil and gas assets sold off by Japan’s Mitsui; pays $US14.03 per boe of reserves According to Jamie Freed in The Sydney Morning Herald (26/04/07, p. 23), Perth company ARC Energy has emerged as the winning bidder for the Australian oil and gas assets sold off by Japan’s Mitsui. The deal with Mitsui will transform ARC – a company with a $303 million market value before the purchase – into a midsize Australian oil and gas player. ARC would pay $US14.03 per boe of reserves, which is less than the $US17.95 per boe global average acquisition price since January 2006.
ARC’s production to increase by 336pc: ARC Energy said it would pay $US315 million ($381 million) for non-operating stakes in three producing fields off Western Australia and Victoria. The move would more than double ARC’s 2008 financial year production to 4.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and increase its reserves by 336 per cent to 29.1 million boe.
Worldwide Exploration was interested in BassGas:Last week, the Herald reported the sale of Mitsui’s stakes in the Cliff Heads and BassGas projects was imminent. Sydney’s Australian Worldwide Exploration said it had been interested in purchasing an additional 12.5 per cent interest in BassGas but did not want to buy all three stakes as a package.
ARC upgraded to midsize oil and gas player: ARC already owned 6 per cent of the Cliff Heads oilfield, which is offshore from Perth, but the Mitsui purchase will increase its stake to 30 per cent. It should also receive 40 per cent of the Wandoo oilfield off north-west Western Australia, although that stake is subject to a pre-emptive purchase right by its operator and majority owner, Canada’s Vermillion Energy Trust.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 26/4/2007, p. 23