- How to Prepare Your Portfolio if the Market Sells Off
- Stanley Works to Acquire Black & Decker for $4.5 Billion
- The World's Most Secretive Tax Havens
- Treasury Cuts Q4 Borrowing Estimate to $276 Billion
- Slideshow: Wines to Bring to a Holiday Meal
- Chesapeake Energy Profit Sharply Lower
- Blog: The 'S' Word for Moskow Isn't 'Stimulus'
- Are Better Times Here for Mortgage Bankers?
- 'Sir' Allen Stanford? Not Any More
- What To Expect From Viacom's Earnings
- Stocks vs. Commodities: Which Way to Go Now?
- Better Times for Mortgage Banking
- Tony Fratto: Summers' Real Agenda
- Where to Invest Now: Two Strategists' Views
- Transforming Businesses
- Bullish Price Targets on 2 Auto Stocks: Analyst
- Why S&P Stocks Will Rise Over Next 6 Months: Market Pro
- The Perfect Job On 'The Go'
MOST SHARED
- US Economic Growth Could Accelerate After Strong Reports
- Pending Home Sales Rise for Eighth Straight Month
- Ford CEO: We're on a Steady Trajectory of Growth Now
- CIT Group Files for Bankruptcy Protection
- Israel: Leader of Business Innovation
- PepsiCo misplaces letter, faces $1.26 bln judgment
- Israel: Leader of Business Innovation
- Quiz: Think You Understand Markets? Prove It
- Fuel of the Future
- Recovery On: GDP Jumps, Jobless Claims Move Lower
Text Size 
Woodside Petroleum will sell its stake in an Australian gas project to partner Origin Energy for A$712.5 million ($639.6 million), as it looks to free up cash to finance other expansion plans.
 |
AP |
Woodside, Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer, said on Monday it will its 51.55 percent stake in the Otway project, located off the southeastern state of Victoria, which produces gas for the domestic market.
The deal will boost Woodside's coffers as it seeks to divest non-core assets to finance its bigger and more lucrative liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, and will also give Origin greater access to the exploration upside of the area and boost its income.
Origin said the transaction will be earnings accretive from the first full financial year following completion. The acquisition will be funded from its balance sheet, which at Sept. 30 included A$4.4 billion of cash reserves and undrawn bank facilities.
"Increasing our interest in the project provides additional earnings from natural gas sold under existing long term contracts to TRUenergy as well as from LPG and condensate sold from the liquids-rich gas stream," Origin Managing Director Grant King said in a statement.
The sale includes production licences for the Thylacine and Geographe fields and adjacent exploration permits, as well as offshore production facilities, pipelines and an onshore gas processing plant, Origin said in a separate statement.
Shares in Woodside fell 1.95 percent to A$46.77 by 2336 GMT, while Origin was down 1.37 percent at A$15.85, against a 2.4 percent fall in the broader stock index.
The A$1.1 billion Otway project, which began production in September 2007, is expected to produce 950 billion cubic feet of raw gas, 12.2 million barrels of condensate and 1.7 million tonnes of liquid petroleum gas.
Woodside said the effective date of the transaction is July 1, 2009 with the transfer of ownership anticipated to occur in December 2009.
Other partners in the project include Benaris International Pty Ltd and CalEnergy Gas Australia.
- It's time to reevaluate your investments.
- A jailhouse interview with Bernie Madoff reveals the Ponzi schemer's thoughts on his crime and the SEC.
- Know stocks from bonds? Shorts from longs? Unfortunately, some don't. Take our quiz!
- These executives got the largest pay packages of the last 10 years.
- The world has proven oil reserves of 1.36 trillion barrels. Click ahead for the countries with the biggest.
- The house next door to President Obama's Chicago home recently went on sale. Why hasn't it sold?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes