US energy giant Chevron is selling its stake in the Australian North West Shelf LNG venture after drawing interest from potential buyers.
The company made a move to start a formal marketing process for its 16.67 per cent stake in the $34 billion project after receiving bids from several buyers.
“Chevron Australia has made the decision to market its non-operated one-sixth interest in the NWS project, following a number of unsolicited approaches from a range of credible buyers”, the company said in a emailed statement on Thursday.
Australia’s oldest LNG plant, operated by Woodside, has been liquefying gas from fields located off the north-west coast of Australia for more than 30 years.
Hovewher, these fields are slowly running out of gas and the project is now shifting its focus towards a different business model aimed at processing gas from third parties.
“The NWS Project is shifting its focus towards becoming a globally competitive third-party tolling facility, and this is the appropriate time for Chevron to consider fair value proposals from potential buyers for its interest”, the statement said.
Chevron added it remains committed to Australia as operator of the giant Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects located in Western Australia.
The Karratha gas plant has five LNG trains with a capacity of 16.9 million tonnes per year. The facility also features domestic gas trains, condensate stabilisation units and LPG units.
Besides operator Woodside and Chevron, other partners in the NWS project include BP, Shell, BHP, and Japan Australlia LNG.