Eni has acquired from Shell a 32.5% interest in and operatorship of the Evans Shoal gas field offshore northern Australia.
Evans Shoal is in Retention Lease NT/RL7, in the north Bonaparte Basin around 300km northwest of Darwin, where the Darwin liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is operating. Eni estimates the resource base of the field to at least 8 Tcf of raw gas in place.
The NT/RL7 joint venture and Australian government have approved the transaction. The new NT/RL7 Joint Venture sees Eni Australia with 65% interest, PETRONAS Carigali (Australia) (25%), and Osaka Gas Australia (10%).
Eni said the transaction represents a further step forward in its growth plans in the Australasian region, following the successful startup in May 2017 of the Jangkrik gas field offshore Kalimantan, Indonesia, which supplies gas to the Bontang LNG plant.
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