Wednesday, 9 April 2025 / Edition 53

This week has been an exciting time for college basketball: the end of the annual March Madness tournament. I saw the incredible comeback victory by the University of Houston Cougars against the Duke Blue Devils in the semifinal round, and even though they went on to lose the championship to the University of Florida Gators, UH made an impressive second appearance in the Final Four in the past four years.

I also enjoyed four matches over two days at the Asian North America Tournament as a player-coach this past weekend. We successfully defended our title in the 58+ age group, spending fun time with college mates from 40 years ago.

Now, it is time to get back to work.

Shangyou Nie

Editor, Well Read

Woodside Energy Sells 40-Percent Stake in U.S. LNG Project to P.E. Firm for $5.7 Billion

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Australian major Woodside Energy recently announced that it has reached a binding agreement with private equity firm Stonepeak: It will sell 40 percent equity in Louisiana LNG Infrastructure (InfraCo) for $5.7 billion. Woodside is trying to invite additional partners to join the Louisiana LNG project (See the project and company structures outlined here.)

Deal details:

1. In exchange for the 40 percent equity stake, Stonepeak will contribute 75 percent of project’s CapEx in 2025 and 2026. The remainder of the investment will be injected in the years following.

2. The completion of the transaction is subject to conditions precedent, including FID and related approvals.

3. The effective date for this transaction is 1 January 2025.

About the Woodside and InfraCo:

1. Woodside is Australia’s largest upstream company and has proven LNG expertise: It is the operator for the North West Shelf Project that began operating in 1989.

2. Woodside has a market cap of $24 billion.

3. Woodside acquired InfraCo through its $900-million acquisition of Tellurian last year.

4. InfraCo holds an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement with Bechtel. Subject to final investment decision, InfraCo will own and construct a liquefaction infrastructure and common user facilities.

5. InfraCo will construct a three-train LNG facility, which will produce 16.5 million tonnes per annum.

6. InfraCo will have long-term liquefaction tolling agreement for Louisiana LNG, a holding company, to bridge gas suppliers and LNG offtakers.

About Stonepeak:

1. Stonepeak is a private equity firm focused on energy infrastructure projects in North America.

2. Stonepeak has $75 billion in assets under management.

3. Stonepeak is based in New York, with 275 staff members across its headquarters and offices in Houston, London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi.

What they’re saying: “We have strong conviction in the critical role Louisiana LNG will play in the U.S. LNG export market. The project represents a compelling opportunity to invest in a new-build LNG export facility, nearing FID approval, with an attractive risk-reward profile and best-in-class partners,” said James Wyper, Stonepeak Senior Managing Director, Head of U.S. Private Equity, Head of Transportation & Logistics Investment Team.

What to watch:

• This deal represents an accelerated pace for potential investors entering the fast-growing gas/U.S. LNG market. The Trump administration has given clear signals for faster permitting and regulatory support for the oil and gas industry.

• A recent and similar sale of Chevron gas assets to Tokyo Gas and Castleton Commodities International in East Texas for $525 million is another such example.

• Woodside said that it will sell down around 50 percent of the Louisiana LNG project, implying a further 10 percent equity is available for additional potential investors.

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CNOOC Completes Sale of U.S. Producing Deepwater Assets

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China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) completed its sale of U.S. Gulf assets Appomattox and Stampede to U.K. chemicals company Ineos, as part of the Chinese NOCs’ retreat from overseas upstream investments.

Deal details:

1. Ineos announced the deal in December 2024 and cleared all necessary regulatory approvals in the past four months.

2. The deal “includes a portfolio of non-operated assets built around two deepwater early production assets (Appomattox and Stampede) in the Gulf of Mexico/Gulf of America,” according to the Ineos public statement.

3. Appomattox is a Shell-operated (79 percent) deepwater asset, in which CNOOC had 21 percent equity. It came on stream in May 2019.

4. Appomattox is estimated to have 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of peak oil production, complemented by several satellite fields within subsea tieback distance.

5. Appomattox represents the industry’s first commercial production in the Jurassic Norphlet play.

6. Stampede is a Hess-operated (25 percent) oil field, in which CNOOC also had 25 percent equity. It came on stream in February 2018, with a full production capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil and 40 million cubic feet of gas per day. The other two equal partners of Stampede are Chevron and Equinor.

7. Transaction details, including the sales price, were not disclosed.

About the seller, CNOOC:

1. CNOOC is China’s third largest national oil company and the largest offshore company.

2. CNOOC is publicly traded in Shanghai and Hong Kong. It delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in October 2021 when it was facing a significant political upheaval from its oil and gas activities in the South China Sea.

3. According to the Wall Street Journal, CNOOC recently posted record first quarter net profit for Q1 2025 due to steady growth in net oil and gas production domestically and internationally.

4. Appomattox and Stampede were both formerly owned by Canadian independent company Nexen, which CNOOC acquired in 2013 for $15.1 billion.

About the buyer, Ineos:

1. Ineos is a private United Kingdom-based chemicals company.

2. This latest acquisition represents the third oil and gas deal Ineos has made in the past three years, making its total investment in the United States more than $3 billion.

3. Ineos’ two other growth deals in the United States include Chesapeake’s oil and gas assets in South Texas and a 1.5-million tonnes per annum LNG deal with Sempra.

4. According to Ineos, it has built an international portfolio of 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of equity production.

What they’re saying: “This is a major step for us into the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which builds on our growing energy business,”said Brian Gilvary, Chairman of Ineos Energy in December 2024.

What to watch:

• According to an analysis by Upstream’s Xu Yihe, Chinese NOCs paid a heavy price for following the “herd mentality” in their overseas expansion more than a decade ago when oil prices were high.

• However, one important success case is CNOOC’s 25 percent acquisition into the Stabroek Block in Guyana.

• The Chinese NOCs have been stuck with some of these overpriced assets.

• The Chinese NOCs appear to have obtained the government greenlight to offload some of the international assets, starting with Sinochem’s decision to sell all its international portfolio announced last December.

• Which other U.S. oil and gas assets will Ineos purchase next?

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✉️ To get in touch with Shangyou, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.