Shell offloads North West Shelf LNG stake to XRG for $1.454bn

(Sharecast News) - Shell has agreed to sell its 16.67% interest in the North West Shelf (NWS) project in Australia to ADNOC-backed XRG for $1.45bn. The disposal is part of Shell's ongoing strategy of recycling capital from mature assets and focusing investment on businesses where it has greater scale and operational control, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

NWS is one of Australia's largest and longest-running LNG developments, centred on the Karratha Gas Plant in Western Australia and operated by Woodside Energy.

Shell's stake includes interests in upstream gas assets, pipelines, processing infrastructure, project companies and associated LNG offtake arrangements.

The sale transfers related decommissioning obligations to the buyer, subject to agreed security arrangements and further streamlines Shell's Australian portfolio following recent divestments, while leaving the group with significant positions in LNG assets including Prelude FLNG, QGC and the Crux project.

For XRG, the acquisition expands its international gas and LNG footprint as it seeks to build a global energy, chemicals and low-carbon investment portfolio.

The deal comes as spare capacity emerges at the North West Shelf facilities due to declining output from the project's foundation gas fields, increasing the importance of third-party gas processing opportunities.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com