New articile, but no insight into whether this will happen anytime soon.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business...7397719689
New York-listed but Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas group Interoil is thought to be considering an Australian Securities Exchange listing following the settlement of an alliance with French giant Total over the Elk-Antelope onshore gasfield in PNG’s PRL 15 permit.
Several former Woodside executives are now at Interoil, including CEO Michael Hession and chief financial officer Don Spector, although it was Total that came out in February as the major financier of the permit.
Elk-Antelope is 400km northwest of Port Moresby, inland but about the same distance between the Port Moresby LNG facility and the Hides gas plant.
In February, Total emerged from a legal battle with JV partner Oil Search to become operator of the permit, described by management at last week’s Interoil AGM in New York as a “giant”.
Morgan Stanley’s US analysts say Total will be paying more than $US1.5 billion ($1.9bn) early next year to buy into the permit, taking its holding to 40.1 per cent and Interoil’s to 36.5 per cent.
Oil Search remains on 22.8 per cent after having a claim for pre-emptive purchase rights denied by arbitration.
“We believe new (Interoil) management is now hitting its stride, has a much better data-driven grasp on the assets and has re-positioned IOC for success,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a recent note to clients.
Interoil is widely seen as a potential Woodside target, especially given the fall in the oil price has put it back in the frame.
At the same time Papua New Guinea LNG producers are attracting attention from Japan, with the Asian giant becoming increasingly interested in security of supply.
This is the view of Credit Suisse analysts, who recently issued a report that said Japan, the world’s biggest LNG buyer, was no longer as interested in fostering LNG development from the US, Russia and East Africa as it had been a year ago.
