Oil & Gas
Experience
We have advised:
We have advised:
- The North West Shelf Venture – a consortium comprising Woodside Energy, BHP Billiton Petroleum, BP, ChevronTexaco, Shell and Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) – on the sale of a five per cent interest in the joint venture to China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) as part of its successful bid for a US$14 billion contract to supply three million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to southern China. Our role involved amendments to the joint venture documents to admit CNOOC as a seventh member of the North West Shelf Consortium, the sale of an equity interest in the gas reserves and tariffing arrangements for LNG processing and production. This was Australia's largest ever single export deal at that time.
- Since 1999, Freehills has advised ConocoPhillips, the operator and proponent of the Bayu-Undan Project in the Timor Sea. The project involves the construction and development of approximately $8 billion of infrastructure including two offshore platforms, floating storage facilities, a 500km subsea pipeline and an LNG Plant in Darwin. Stage One of the project is now complete with the liquids offtake underway. It has been developed against a background of four legislative regimes due to deannexation of East Timor by Indonesia, the original treaty, a temporary regime under the auspices of a United Nations resolution, a transitional regime and then final legislation approved by both Timor Lesté and Australia. We also acted for ConocoPhillips on their purchase of Timor Sea interests from BHP Petroleum, the first and only sale of production under the Timor Treaty between Australia and Indonesia.
- CalEnergy Gas (Australia) Limited in connection with the development of the $550 million BassGas Project (Yolla) and the $1 billion Otway Gas Project. We have advised on all of the commercial arrangements and project financing for both projects, including the joint operating agreements, construction, contracts, gas balancing and agreements for the sale of gas and liquids.
- Korean steelmaker POSCO in relation to its LNG procurement program, including the negotiation and drafting of a gas sales agreement with the BP operated Tangguh LNG project in the province of Papua, Indonesia.
- Intergen on the development, construction and financing of the Island Power Project, Singapore's first independent, foreign-owned power station. We have also negotiated and drafted a $2.5 billion Gas Sales Agreement, which was Singapore's first wholly private sector gas supply contract. The Agreement is also particularly significant as it is Indonesia's first export sale of pipeline gas from Indonesia to a private sector buyer, the first export sale under the new Indonesian oil and gas law framework and the first gas imported into Singapore from Indonesia by a Singaporean private sector buyer. It will be the first non-recourse project financed, merchant independent power project in Asia.
- Woodside Petroleum Limited in relation to the construction of a new-build FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Facility) and the construction and installation of the subsea system for the Enfield liquids project offshore Western Australia. We also act for Woodside as operator in relation to the construction and procurement contracts for the Otway Gas project, including an onshore gas plant, subsea pipeline and offshore structures.
- Timor Sea co-operation between Phillips, Shell and Woodside and related Sunrise acquisitions.
- Southern Cross Pipelines Consortium on its acquisition and project financing of WMC Ltd's 62 per cent interest and Normandy Mining Ltd's 28 per cent interests in the Goldfields Gas Transmission joint venture. The project involved the ownership of the 1,378km Goldfields gas pipeline in Western Australia and the sale of four WMC power stations. The purchase consideration was in excess of $750 million.
- Marubeni in its acquisition of North Sea producing interests from Veba Oil & Gas.
- Epic Energy on its $2.4 billion acquisition of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline and related assets from AlintaGas through a competitive tender process organised by the State of Western Australia. The acquisition was the largest ever privatisation of Western Australian assets, with Epic assuming responsibility for more than 130 employees.
- Mobil Group in the divestment of their interests in the Harriet and East Spar Projects valued at $425 million.
- OMV Australia on its acquisition of certain interests in oilfields in the Timor Sea and on its contested acquisition of Cultus Energy NL.
- AGL and Western Power on the development of the Mid West Pipeline, the first of its kind in the mid-west region of Western Australia.
- Gulf Indonesian Resources on the sale of gas from Sumatra to Batam Island and Malaysia.
- Santos in relation to a wide range of corporate and financing matters, asset acquisitions and disposals, gas sales and swap agreements, project developments, environmental issues and competition law. We are currently assisting Santos in connection with gas swap arrangements with Origin Energy, the development of the Casino gas field in the Otway Basin, the acquisition of certain assets of Novus Petroleum in the Cooper Basin and Indonesia, and the disposal of the company's interests in the onshore Otway Basin.
- BHP Billiton Petroleum in connection with the sales of its interests in the Buffalo and Montara oilfields.
- Chevron on the PNG Gas Project involving the negotiation of gas sale agreements and gas transportation arrangements for the proposed pipeline from Papua New Guinea to Australia.