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    Woodside 'Still Committed' to Sunrise

Summary

Woodside and Shell have said they will work with Sunrise's expected new shareholder.

by: Nathan Richardson, Mark Smedley

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Natural Gas & LNG News, Asia/Oceania, Premium, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions, Political, Ministries, Infrastructure, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), News By Country, Australia

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Woodside 'Still Committed' to Sunrise

ConocoPhillips' two main partners have commented in the wake of its decision, confirmed October 1, to sell its 30% interest in the Greater Sunrise project to the Timor-Leste government for $350mn.

The government wants to develop a Timor-Leste onshore liquefaction complex, whereas Sunrise partners in the past have called for a floating project or one tied back by pipeline to the Darwin LNG in Australia.

A spokesperson for the Sunrise operator, Woodside, said that both Woodside and its co-venturers will engage with Timor-Leste following the joint government/ConocoPhillips announcement: "Woodside and the Sunrise Joint Venture [SJV] remain committed to the development of Greater Sunrise and we look forward to working with Timor-Leste to deliver value to both the people of Timor-Leste and the shareholders of the joint venture participants."

Shell also said it "will continue to work with our Sunrise joint venture partners and the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia to progress development of the Sunrise project."

Australia's Woodside has a 33.44% interest in the venture, while Shell has 26.56% and Japan's Osaka Gas 10%. Divestment of ConocoPhillips' 30% stake is subject to pre-emption and other agreements.

Woodside continued: "The new Timor Treaty, signed on 6 March 2018, has the potential to unlock Greater Sunrise provided that the underlying arrangements, including the new Greater Sunrise production-sharing contracts and agreed fiscal regime, are on terms and conditions equivalent to the existing arrangements and give the Sunrise Joint Venture the fiscal and regulatory certainty necessary for a commercial development to proceed. Until new production sharing contract [PSC] arrangements are in place, the SJV will continue to honour its obligations under existing PSCs (JPDA 03-19 and JPDA 03-20) and retention leases (NT/RL2 and NT/RL4), continue ongoing social investment activities in Timor-Leste and maintain an office in [the capital] Dili."

Banner photo shows part of Karratha gas plant, part of Australia's onshore North West Shelf LNG venture that started exports in 1989 and recently exported its 5,000th cargo. Credit: Woodside Energy

 

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