Australia's Santos and partners to acquire coal seam gas project for A$430 million

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 24, the GLNG joint venture partners comprising Santos, TotalEnergies, PETRONAS, and KOGAS signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Westside Corporation and Mitsui E&P Australia to acquire all interests in the Greater Meridian coal seam gas project for A$430 million, approximately US$310 million. The economic effective date of the transaction is January 1, 2026, with completion planned for the end of 2026.

The joint venture partners will assume project interests in accordance with their existing GLNG equity stakes. Santos will acquire a 30% interest and will serve as project operator upon completion; after deducting cash flows generated between the economic effective date and the completion date and accounting for transaction costs, Santos expects a net acquisition cost of US$85 million to US$90 million. Westside will provide operational transition support for up to six months following completion.

The Greater Meridian project is located in the Bowen Basin, Queensland, with 280 existing production wells and current gas production of approximately 47 terajoules per day. Approximately 90% of production is supplied to GLNG under long-term sales agreements, with the remainder supplied to local manufacturer Queensland Nitrates. The project connects to LNG export facilities via the GLNG gas transmission pipeline and to the eastern Australian domestic market via the Queensland Gas Pipeline.

As of December 31, 2025, the project held 322 petajoules of proved and probable reserves and 346 petajoules of contingent resources. Upon completion of the transaction, Santos expects to add approximately 17 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved and probable reserves and 18 million barrels of oil equivalent in contingent resources, with the final booked volumes to be reduced by production between January 1, 2026, and the completion date.

Greater Meridian has been supplying gas to GLNG under long-term agreements since 2015 and will become GLNG's fifth coal seam gas production hub in Queensland upon completion. The transaction remains subject to approval from competition regulators, the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board, and relevant Queensland government authorities.