Osaka Gas Plans to Acquire a 5% Interest in Australia's Browse Gas Project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 18, Osaka Gas announced that Osaka Gas Browse Pty Ltd, established with funding from its wholly owned subsidiary Osaka Gas Australia Pty Ltd, has signed an agreement with BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd to acquire a 5% interest in the Browse gas project in Western Australia. Completion of the transaction remains subject to approval from Australian regulators and other relevant conditions. JOGMEC approved equity financing support for Osaka Gas Browse on September 16, and plans to cover up to 50% of eligible project costs.

The Browse project consists of three offshore conventional gas fields, Calliance, Brecknock and Torosa, located in waters approximately 425 kilometers north of Broome in Western Australia, with Woodside serving as operator. The existing development plan includes building two floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units and laying approximately 900 kilometers of subsea pipeline to transport gas to the existing North West Shelf project infrastructure in Karratha for processing. The project is planned to have an integrated processing capacity of approximately 11.4 million tons per year for LNG, LPG and Australian domestic gas, with peak condensate production of approximately 50,000 barrels per day.

After Osaka Gas acquires the project interest, Osaka Gas Browse is expected to be entitled to approximately 550,000 tons per year of LNG, most of which is planned to be imported directly to Japan. Under the proposed equity structure after all relevant interest transactions are completed, Woodside Browse will hold 41.27%, BP Developments Australia will hold 34.33%, Japan Australia LNG (MIMI Browse) will hold 14.4%, and GS Energy Australia and Osaka Gas Browse will each hold 5%.

JOGMEC's support covers the acquisition of the project interest and subsequent development studies. The existing Browse development plan also includes a carbon capture and storage system, which is planned to inject carbon dioxide separated during processing of reservoir gas into underground geological formations. JOGMEC said its equity investment in Osaka Gas Browse is capped at 50% of eligible project costs, and the relevant support has obtained the consent of Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Browse currently remains a large undeveloped offshore gas resource project, and Woodside is advancing preparations for subsequent development. Osaka Gas's announcement did not disclose the transaction price for the 5% interest, and the timing of the project's final investment decision, total investment amount and production start-up schedule were also not disclosed in this transaction announcement.