Petronas to sell stake in Canadian shale gas assets

Petronas has agreed to sell a 25% stake in its Canadian shale gas assets to an Indian company and an Asian gas buyer, according to company CEO, Shamsul Azhar Abbas.

Petronas is looking to share some of the costs of bringing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from North America to Asia. Indian state oil and gas companies want to expand their portfolios of exploration and producing assets.

The Malaysian company has already sold a 10% stake in Progress Energy Resources Corp, the integrated shale gas development and LNG project to Japan Petroleum Exploration and a further 3% to Petroleum Brunei.

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"I am pleased to announce that we have just finalised a further 25% equity participation from an Indian party and an established Asian LNG buyer," Shamsul announced at the LNG Supplies for Asian Markets conference, as reported by Reuters.

The name of the Indian company or the Asian buyer was not disclosed, nor was the price paid for the stake. Shamsul suggested that the buyers would be announced next week, following an official signing of the deal.

Petronas has previously said it wants to sell up to 50% of the Canadian project, which means it now has a further 12% to sell.

"We are in advanced talks with other buyers for the remaining 12% ," Shamsul said, without providing any further details.

Progress Energy Resources

Petronas bought Canada's Progress Energy Resources in 2012 for approximately US$ 5 billion. Development of the shale gas resources in British Columbia and an LNG facility with a capacity of 12 million tpa have been valued at US$ 35 billion.

Edited from various sources by Katie Woodward

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