LNG

The Private Department of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan has committed to slash out $1.13 billion on MidOcean Energy, marking its first entry into the global LNG sector. The investment strengthens MidOcean's capital base and supports its strategy to expand its diversified global LNG portfolio

MidOcean Energy has secured an $120 million equity investment from The Arab Energy Fund (TAEF) as part of its ongoing capital raise, targeting up to $2 billion from new investors.

Japanese city gas supplier Shizuoka Gas will invest $100 million in MidOcean Energy, the LNG platform backed by US infrastructure investor EIG, building on Idemitsu Kosan’s $500 million commitment as oil refiner aspires a “full-scale entry into the LNG business.”

Japan’s second largest oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan has announced a $500 million investment in MidOcean Energy in a bid to enter the global LNG business. Idemitsu’s equity raise in MidOcean forms part of a $1.2 billion equity raise, with funds targeted at expanding LNG projects in Australia, Canada, South America.

Australian regulators and constantly shifting government energy policies are causing extensive delays that endanger the completion of the A$18.7 billion (US$12.25Bln) takeover of Origin Energy by a North American consortium of investment funds and with a resultant side-deal also giving Saudi Aramco access for the first time to the liquefied natural gas sector.

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the world’s largest oil production group, has signed definitive agreements to acquire a strategic minority stake in MidOcean Energy for $500 million and thus enter the liquefied natural gas sector initially in Australia.

Australia is considering extending the life of the country’s largest coal-fired power plant located in the state of New South Wales and owned by Australia-Pacific LNG stakeholder Origin Energy because of concerns over energy security.

Revenues from the Australia-Pacific LNG (APLNG) plant in Queensland for the quarter to the end of March declined amid the implementation of the sale of Australia's Origin Energy to Canadian and US funds, Brookfield Asset Management and Washington DC-based EIG.

Origin Energy, the Australian upstream supplier to the Australia-Pacific LNG export plant in Queensland facing a A$18.4 billion (US$12.3 billion) buyout offer from a two-firm consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, said the due diligence on the deal was largely completed.

Origin said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange that it was continuing its “active engagement” with Brookfield and consortium partner MidOcean Energy, an LNG company formed and managed by US-based energy investor EIG.

“Origin advises that the Consortium has substantially completed due diligence and active engagement continues on a non-exclusive basis in relation to the submission of a binding proposal,” said Origin.

The Sydney-based company noted that any binding proposal would be subject to a number of conditions, including approval by Australian regulators.

“At this stage, shareholders do not need to take any action and Origin will continue to keep shareholders updated in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations,” said the company.

Origin’s business comprises Integrated Gas with its feed-gas sales to Australia-Pacific LNG and a utilities and domestic power markets unit, the Energy Markets division.

This is made up of retail and wholesale electricity sales and natural gas supplies to the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Targeted

The bid for Origin from Brookfield comes after its offer in 2022 to buy Australia's leading utility, AGL Energy, was rejected.

The Origin buy-out proposal was made through the Brookfield Global Transition Fund, which is co-run by Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England.

Under the proposal to acquire Origin, Brookfield would take over the company’s Energy Markets business, while MidOcean Energy, in the form of EIG, would take control of Origin's Integrated Gas business, including its 27.5 percent stake in APLNG.

The APLNG plant stake that would go to EIG’s MidOcean under the Origin buy-out is a supplier to China and one of its shareholders is China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec.

Origin is the main upstream operator for coal-seam gas supply to the facility while US major ConocoPhillips is the plant operator.

APLNG came on stream in 2016 and has two liquefaction Trains with total nameplate capacity of around 9 million tonnes per annum with about 7 MTPA going to China.

The plant sits alongside two other CSG-to-LNG facilities on Curtis Island, the Shell-run Queensland Curtis LNG plant and the Gladstone plant, operated by Santos.

Origin Energy, the Australian upstream supplier to the Australia-Pacific LNG export plant in Queensland, said the project provided a 40 percent increase in revenues with Origin’s share amounting to A$876 million (US$620M) during the last quarter.