Mitsui completes acquisition of Santos' Interest in an offshore gas and condensate field in Australia

Mitsui & Co. has completed the transaction in respect of the acquisition of 35% working interest in the Kipper gas and condensate field from Santos Ltd., as of 3 March 2016 through Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui, under the Sales and Purchase Agreement on 6 November 2015.

This acquisition is a significant step for Mitsui to expand its gas business in the region, and represents its aim to contribute to the reliable supply of energy to the Australian East coast.

The Kipper Gas Field lies in 100 m of water, approximately 45km off Ninety Mile Beach, in the Gippsland Basin. The field is now owned by Mitsui & Co. (35.0%) ExxonMobil (32.5%) as operator and BHP Billiton (32.5%).

Kipper has a confirmed resource of 620 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas – an estimated 610 Petajoules of sales gas (net of fuel and flare) – together with reserves of recoverable condensate and LPG amounting to some 30 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Diversification of energy upstream business in Australia, currently weighted towards LNG and crude oil, is also an important rationale of this investment. Mitsui & Co. believes acquisition of domestic gas asset, which is less vulnerable to global oil price, will lead to a more robust energy asset portfolio against commodity price volatility.