Shell to sell stake in Thailand's Bongkot gas field to KUFPEC for $900 mn
01 Feb 2017
Royal Dutch Shell yesterday said that it will sell its stake in Thailand's Bongkot gas field to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC), for $900 million.
The sale comes on the same day when the European energy giant agreed to sell some North Sea fields to Chrysaor Holdings for up to $3.8 billion. (See: Shell to sell some North Sea part of oil, gas fields to Chrysaor for $3.8 bn)
Shell said that it has reached an agreement with KUFPEC Thailand Holdings Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of KUFPEC, for the sale of subsidiary companies Shell Integrated Gas Thailand Pte Limited and Thai Energy Co Limited, which together hold a 22.222 per cent stake in the Bongkot field, and adjoining acreage offshore Thailand consisting of Blocks 15, 16 and 17 and block G12/48.
Shell's partners in the Bongkot Asset are the operator of the field, PTT Exploration & Production, with 44.445 per cent stake, and Total of France with 33.333 per cent.
In March 2016, Shell said that it would sell assets worth $30 billion in a bid to bolster its balance sheet, which ratings agency Fitch downgraded a month after the Anglo-Dutch oil giant completed its $49-billion acquisition of BG Group. (See: Shell plans to sell assets worth $30 bn)
Plummeting crude prices have hit oil companies across the world and slashed earnings of other oil majors, including Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc, retarding investments in new oil exploration while at the same time hitting investor returns.
The London-listed company, like other rivals, has scaled down on spending on new projects. It recently announced that it would reduce its planned capital spending over the next three years by $15 billion.
Shell is one of the world's largest energy companies and one of the six oil and gas super-majors with a market value of about €171 billion and annual revenues of $421 billion.
It operates in over 70 countries, produces 3.1 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is also among the world's largest natural-gas companies and has sold 24 million tonnes of LNG in 2015.