Jadestone in the running for Woodside’s oil & gas assets off Western Australia

Singapore-headquartered oil and gas company Jadestone Energy has confirmed its participation in the bid process, which is related to the proposed sale of Woodside’s participating interests in oil and gas assets located off the coast of Western Australia.

If Jadestone is selected as the preferred bidder and reaches an agreement with Woodside, the acquisition will be classified as a reverse takeover transaction and trigger the suspension of the company’s shares on AIM.

This bid process, which is being managed by Morgan Stanley on behalf of Woodside, is for the proposed sale of the Australian energy giant’s interests in the Macedon gas field and the Greater Pyrenees project, consisting of a cluster of producing oil fields, collectively known as the Pyrenees area.

“There can be no assurance that agreement between the parties will be reached on mutually acceptable terms and that the proposed acquisition will be entered into, or if entered into, will complete,” explained Jadestone.

Woodside’s net working interest production from the Macedon field and Pyrenees area in the second half of 2023 averaged around 28,000 boe/d. Located approximately 75 km west of Onslow, Western Australia, Macedon gas flows through a pipeline to a gas treatment plant located near Onslow.

Afterward, sales quality gas is transported via a 67 km pipeline into the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline and thereon for onward sale into the Western Australian domestic gas market. The Macedon filed is operated by Woodside with a 71.4% stake while Santos holds the remaining 28.6% interest.

On the other hand, the Pyrenees project consists of six conventional oil fields located around 45 km northwest of Exmouth in the Carnarvon Basin. The crude oil is offloaded from MODEC’s FPSO Pyrenees Venture directly to tankers for sale to international markets. The produced formation water is treated at the facility and reinjected for disposal in four subsea water injection wells.

In addition, a single well in the Macedon gas field allows for injection or production of natural gas depending on facility requirements. Woodside’s hydrocarbon production from the Macedon and Pyrenees projects was 653 Mbbl in the fourth quarter of 2023 while sales amounted to 1,054 Mbbl for the same period.

Jadestone has been actively working on expanding its portfolio, as confirmed by a recent deal to acquire a non-operated 16.67% working interest from Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) in the Cossack, Wanaea, Lambert, and Hermes (CWLH) oil fields development, known as the North West Shelf oil project off Western Australia.