Australia’s Woodside Petroleum is set to raise A$2.5bn ($1.96bn) to purchase stake in Scarborough gas field located in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia.
Woodside said it plans to use a part of the funding to acquire ExxonMobil’s 50% stake in the Scarborough gas field. Final investment decision for the field is scheduled by 2020.
The ExxonMobil's affiliate Esso Australia Resources is the operator and owner of 50% of the Scarborough gas field. Other joint venture partners include BHP Billiton with 25% stake and Woodside Petroleum with 25% interest.
The funding is also planned to be used for the SNE-Phase 1 developments and to progress development of Browse LNG project.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said: "The Entitlement Offer provides equity funding for Scarborough and SNE-Phase 1, and supports progression of Browse to targeted FID.
“These projects are a continuation of our previously announced strategy of unlocking the Burrup Hub and developing oil in West Africa.
"The acquisition of the additional interest in Scarborough provides greater alignment, control and certainty over a low-cost, high value opportunity ahead of a global LNG supply gap.”
Woodside said that the acquisition of stake in the Scarborough field is subject to pre-emption and other customary approvals.
Discovered in 1979, Scarborough is located off the coast of Western Australia approximately 220km northwest of Exmouth in 900 metres of water. The field is one of the most remote of the Carnarvon Basin gas resources.
In Novermber 2016, Woodside had completed the acquisition of half of Scarborough area assets from BHP Billiton.
The Scarborough area assets will include gas fields in Scarborough, Jupiter and Thebe, where an estimated amount of 8.7 trillion cubic feet of gas resources are present at 2C confidence level.