Shell Australia has announced that it has entered into an agreement with BP for the sale of Shell’s interests in the Browse project, subject to regulatory approvals.
“Browse remains an important Australian resource that, if developed, will provide much-needed power to customers as the energy market transitions to lower carbon energy,” Shell said in a statement posted on its website.
“Shell regularly evaluates its portfolio to inform capital allocation and maximize returns and performance, however, the Browse asset is no longer a strategic fit within the context of Shell’s global portfolio,” the company added.
Shell did not disclose the value of the deal in the statement. When Rigzone asked Shell about the value of the deal and whether there will be any job losses as a result of the transaction, a Shell spokesman said: “We do not expect any short-term impact on people as a result of ‘this decision’.
“The consideration has not been disclosed,” the spokesman added.
BP has made no mention of the deal on its website at the time of writing. Rigzone has reached out to BP for comment on Shell’s announcement, but has yet to hear back from the company at the time of writing.
Woodside Energy Ltd, the operator of the Browse Joint Venture (BJV), describes Browse as Australia’s largest untapped conventional gas resource. The project proposes to develop the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields, located about 425 km north of Broome, in the offshore Browse Basin, Woodside’s website notes.
The proposed development concept includes two floating production storage and offloading facilities delivering 11.4 million tonnes per annum of LNG/LPG and domestic gas, and an approximately 900 km pipeline to the existing NWS project infrastructure , according to the Woodside site. The BJV is evaluating a range of options to manage greenhouse gas emissions and is advancing a feasibility assessment for a carbon capture and storage solution and opportunities to improve energy efficiency, according to the site of Woodside.
Woodside Browse Pty Ltd has a 30.60 percent stake in the project. Shell Australia Pty Ltd has a 27 percent stake, BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd has a 17.33 percent stake, Japan Australia LNG (MIMI Browse) Pty Ltd has a 14.40 percent stake and PetroChina International Investment ( Australia) Pty Ltd has a 10.67 percent stake. .
Shell divestments
On March 15, Shell announced that its subsidiary, Sarawak Shell Berhad, had completed a previously announced sale of its stake in two offshore production swap contracts in the Baram Delta to Petroleum Sarawak Exploration & Production Sdn. Bhd. In a company statement at the time, Shell said the divestment is in line with Shell’s work to focus its portfolio upstream. The agreement takes effect on January 1, 2023.
Shell noted in December 2022 that the base consideration for the sale is $475 million, “with additional payments of up to $50 million between 2023 and 2024 depending on commodity prices.”
On March 3, Shell said its subsidiary Shell Salym Development BV had completed the divestment of its 50 percent stake in the Salym project, which it noted had been jointly developed with Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of Gazprom .
On February 28, Shell revealed that its subsidiary Shell Offshore Inc. had completed a previously announced sale of its 100 percent stake in Shell Onshore Ventures LLC to IKAV. The company noted at the time that the sale “is part of Shell’s strategy to build a resilient and competitive upstream portfolio by focusing on positions with high growth potential and a strong integrated value chain.”
In September last year, Shell disclosed that the sale had total consideration of approximately $2 billion in cash “with additional contingent payments based on future oil prices, subject to regulatory approval.” The transaction took effect on October 1, 2021.
In its fourth-quarter results statement released in February, Shell highlighted that its divestment income amounted to $200 million in the fourth quarter of last year, $300 million in the third quarter of 2022, $800 million of dollars in the second quarter of 2022, $700 million in the second quarter of 2022. first quarter of 2022 and $9.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
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