With its proposal, the Japanese commodities trader has become the third company to show interest in the Australian company after China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group (CERCG) and Mineral Resources (MRL).
While CERCG offered A$463m ($347.94m), MRL had offered A$526m ($403m) for the takeover of AWE.
AWE said that its board of directors will assess the proposal from Mitsui and provide shareholders with a recommendation in due course of time.
Headquartered in Sydney, AWE is focused on upstream oil and gas opportunities. It currently has production, development and exploration assets located across Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
In August 2016, AWE started to sell gas from Stage 1A of the Waitsia gas project in Western Australia. The company owns a stake of 50% in the project.
Mitsui said: “AWE’s interest in the Waitsia Gas Project has the potential to be an attractive source of future gas supply to a wide range of Western Australian gas customers,”
A Mitsui spokesperson told Reuters that the Japanese firm is keen to add experience as operator of a gas field.
The spokesperson was quoted by the publication as saying: “Having knowledge of an operatorship in an Australian gas field would help us win other energy deals in the future in the country.”
Mitsui said that its proposal would be conditional on AWE’s termination of its agreement with MRL by 2 February.
However, the offer is not conditional on due diligence, financing, regulatory approval or further internal approvals.
