Westside Corp. acquires stake in coal seam gas field

Westside Corp. has agreed to pay AUS$ 27 million in order to buy a 51% stake in coal seam gas assets from the existing owners Anglo American and Mitsui Moura Investment Pty Ltd (MMI). It had planned to buy out Mitsui and Co. as well, but Mitsui & Co. elected to keep their assets in the venture.

Westside Corp. has still not been informed if its bid for Anglo-American's 25.5% interest in adjoining CSM gas tenements has been accepted, as the bid is subject to preemptive rights from the other partners, Mitsui and Molopo Energy. Molopo has elected to preempt the sale and raise its stake in the venture, but Mitsui are still to announce its decision.

The Dawson Seamgas fields have certified 1P gas reserves of 60 petajoules (PJ), 186 PJ of 2P reserves and 334 PJ of 3P reserves.

Westside’s new acquisition transforms it from gas explorer to producer, and allows it to join the ranks of other companies producing LNG to feed Asia’s growing demand for the fuel.

Westside’s CEO Angus Karroll freely admits, “We’re never going to be an LNG developer but we’ll be working with LNG participants to get in there.”

Going into the joint venture makes Westside Corp. the second biggest producer in the state after Arrow Energy. The deal also grants the company domestic market rights for gas and aligns it with Mitsui’s global LNG marketing rights. The gas field is also well located, adjacent to the proposed Surat-to-Gladstone gas pipeline, which will supply feedstock to Queensland’s LNG market and domestic market.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/11032010/westside_corp_acquires_stake_in_coal_seam_gas_field/