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Australian LNG player Santos recently announced the JV and Timor GAP have agreed terms of a sale and purchase deed to transfer the interest in the Bayu-Undan upstream project to Timor GAP, with an economic date of July 1, 2024.
Santos said in a statement on Tuesday the firms have now executed the sale and purchase deed to transfer the stake in the Bayu-Undan upstream project to Timor GAP.
Completion of the SPD is subject to customary closing conditions.
The company did not reveal the price tag of the deal.
The Bayu-Undan upstream project comprises the offshore petroleum field, and offshore production and processing facilities located in Timor-Leste (East Timor).
The joint venture participants prior to Timor GAP’s entry in to the joint venture were Santos (43.5 percent), SK E&S (25 percent), Inpex (11.4 percent), Eni (11 percent), and Tokyo Timor Sea Resources (9.1 percent).
Following completion of the transaction, Santos will have a 36.5 percent interest in the JV, SK E&S will have 25 percent, Inpex 9.6 percent, Eni 9.2 percent, Tokyo Timor Sea Resources 7.6 percent, and Timor GAP 16 percent.
Bayu-Undan
The Bayu-Undan field is located about 500 kilometers northwest of Darwin in Timor-Leste offshore waters.
The project has provided more than $25 billion in revenue for Timor-Leste over its life so far, Santos claims.
Bayu-Undan continues to produce gas into the Australian domestic market via a gas sales agreement with the Power and Water Corporation of the Northern Territory, as well as producing liquids.
In November last year, the last LNG cargo produced from the Bayu-Undan gas field has sailed from the Santos-operated Darwin LNG plant in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The final LNG shipment from Bayu-Undan left the 3.7 mtpa Darwin LNG plant at Wickham Point on November 11.
The Darwin LNG plant launched operations in 2006 and the facility is now being readied for the next 20 years, in preparation for the start of Barossa gas production in 2025.
Last year, Santos and its Bayu-Undan joint venture partners have signed a memorandum of understanding with Timor GAP to explore partnership opportunities for the proposed Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage project offshore Timor-Leste.
Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said the transaction was indicative of the business’ commitment to a long-term partnership with Timor-Leste, where Santos has now been operating for more than 20 years.
“I have long wanted to see Timor GAP as a partner of Santos and look forward to welcoming them as a participant in the Bayu-Undan JV,” Gallagher said.
According to Santos, the firm remains committed to working with Timor-Leste and the joint venture to repurpose Bayu-Undan into a new large-scale, commercial carbon capture and storage project when petroleum production ends.