TotalEnergies and INPEX Acquire Offshore Australian Permit

TotalEnergies and INPEX have reached an agreement to acquire Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. (PTTEP) 100% interest in the AC-RL7 permit in Australia. TotalEnergies will acquire a 26% interest in the permit in line with its equity in Ichthys LNG, while INPEX will acquire the remaining 74% and operatorship of the permit.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The AC-RL7 permit encompasses an area of approximately 160 sq miles in the Timor Sea, 155 miles northeast of the Ichthys offshore facilities. This permit includes both the Cash and the Maple gas and condensate fields, which have been appraised by several wells since their discoveries. The development of these fields is expected to contribute to the long-term supply of the Ichthys LNG natural gas liquefaction plant.

“Thanks to this joint acquisition together with our partner INPEX, we are pleased to secure additional resources for the future supply of the Ichthys LNG plant,” said Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President of Asia-Pacific, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies. “These resources will help us to meet the long-term demand of our customers in the Asia-Pacific region for LNG.”

The terms of the agreement are subject to approval by the relevant authorities.