Oil major Shell has completed the sale of its interest in the Bongkot field and adjoining acreage offshore Thailand to the state-owned oil company PTTEP for $750 million.
Shell said on Thursday that its affiliates, Shell Integrated Gas Thailand Pte Ltd and Thai Energy Company Ltd, have completed the sale of their 22.2222% interest in the Bongkot field and adjoining acreage offshore Thailand to PTT Exploration & Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) and PTTEP International Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTTEP.
This sale, which consists of Shell’s stake in Blocks 15, 16 and 17 and Block G12/48, was announced on January 31, 2018 and completion follows receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.
PTTEP is the operator of Bongkot and with completion of this transaction, increased its stake in Bongkot to 66.6667%. The remaining 33.3333% belongs to Total.
Somporn Vongvuthipornchai , Chief Executive Officer of PTTEP, said: “Operating the Bongkot field for 20 years has enhanced our expertise and experiences in gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand with competitive operating cost and ultimately deliver greater benefits to the country. We are confident that we will be able to maintain the continuity of natural gas supply for Thailand. As we stand firm to our commitment to maintain energy security for Thailand, PTTEP, as a prudent Thai operator, will definitely participate in the bidding of Bongkot and Erawan fields.”
The sale is part of Shell’s $30bn divestment program and is in line with Shell’s drive to simplify and refocus its portfolio.
Earlier this week Shell also completed the sale of its 15% shareholding in Malaysia LNG Tiga to the Sarawak State Financial Secretary (SFS) for an agreed consideration of $750 million and reached an agreement with OKEA AS to sell its entire 44.56% interest in Draugen and 12% interest in Gjøa in Norway for $556 million (NOK 4,520 million).
These two deals were also part of Shell’s $30bn divestment program.