Santos acquires ConocoPhillips’ Northern Australia stake

Santos has signed an agreement with ConocoPhillips to buy its northern Australia business. After the transaction, Santos will take over ConocoPhillips’ share and operatorship for the Darwin LNG facility and various upstream fields, including the Barossa development.

The acquisition will have an effective date of 1 January 2019. It will have a total value of US$ 1.465 billion, including a US$ 1.39 billion payment at completion, and a further US$ 75 million if FID is reached on developing the Barossa project by early 2020.

The net funding requirement for the purchase is expected to be approximately US$ 775-825 million, taking into account the cash flows generated from the effective date to completion, with customary adjustments, and the revenue obtained from the expected sale of a 25% interest to SK E&S.

In the transaction, Credit Suisse (Australia) Limited and J.B. North & Co. represented Santos as financial advisers, and Allens supported Santos as legal adviser.

Completion of the transaction is subject to third-party consents and regulatory approvals.