Pertamina shells out $2B for stake in Murphy’s Malaysian business

Murphy Oil Corporation will sell 30% of its Malaysian oil and gas assets for $2.0 billion to Indonesia’s oil company Pertamina.

The effective date of the transaction will be January 1, 2014 with closing expected to take place in two phases. The first phase is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the second phase is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2015. The transaction is subject to, among other things, the approval of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (“PETRONAS”).

Murphy has said it looks forward to establishing a long-term partnership with Pertamina. Murphy will remain operator and continue to execute its development plans as well as grow through future exploration in both deep-water and shallow-water Malaysia.

Roger W. Jenkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “This transaction marks the value of the high-margin, long-term assets in our Malaysian business. We are excited to strengthen our partnership with Pertamina and look forward to working with them and our other partners in Malaysia.”

Jenkins added, “We will continue to evaluate all aspects of our portfolio. This transaction allows us to re-deploy the proceeds through an individual or combination of strategic and financial initiatives such as increased drilling capital in the Eagle Ford Shale, acquisition opportunities, debt reduction and share repurchases.”

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