Australia's Santos has completed a deal to sell its 35% non-operated interest in the Kipper gas and condensate field, in the Gippsland Basin, offshore southern Australia, to Mitsui for AU$520 million.
The Kipper field, operated by ExxonMobil, is about 45km off the coast of Victoria and contains about 620 Bcf of recoverable gas and 30 MMbbl of condensate/LPG. Production of gas, condensate and liquid petroleum gas is expected to start this year as a subsea tieback to the West Tuna platform.
Mitsui said that it believes the Australian east coast will continuously require new investments in developing gas resources to meet such demand. The acquisition of domestic gas asset, which is less vulnerable to global oil price, will lead to a more robust energy asset portfolio against commodity price volatility, the company said.