UK based LNG player BG Group is planning to sell an equity stake in the Curtis Island LNG project, Queensland and talks with the China Investment Corp, sovereign wealth fund, are underway, Reuters writes.
The Group, as a majority stakeholder (93.75 %), is said to offer 15-20 % of its stake, with an aim of freeing assets in order to be able to pursue other planned projects, whereas the expected overall value of the stake would equal to $2 billion.
Apart from China Investment Corp. (CiC), the interested parties in the bidding, scheduled for June include China’s CNOOC Group, which might want to increase its 5 percent stake in the project, Marubeni Corp, Qatar Petroleum, Osaka Gas Co Ltd, Mitsui & Co Ltd and Tokyo Gas Co Ltd.
“ BG Group keeps all the assets in its global portfolio under review and we keep all options open. Nothing is sacrosanct. However, we do not speculate about what we may or may not do with the assets in our global portfolio ”, Reuters cited a London-based BG spokesman .
The $15 billion Curtis LNG project encompassing over a 270-hectare site on the eastern coast of Australia should go on air in 2014, having a production capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per annum, with possible expansion to 12 million tonnes per annum.
BG is considering an option of offering off-take agreement to buyers, which could take place following completion of the bidding procedure and expansion of the plant’s capacity.
[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, April 27, 2012; Image: QGC