Santos announces sale of non-core Asian assets

May 03, 2018

LONDON -- Santos today announced the sale of its non-core Asian portfolio to Ophir Energy plc (Ophir) for $221 million.

The sale is consistent with Santos’ strategy to realize value from its late-life non-core assets and will result in Santos making country exits from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

The assets sold to Ophir include the following interests:

31.875% in the Block 12W PSC (Chim Sáo and Dua oil fields), Vietnam;
67.5% in the Madura Offshore PSC (Maleo and Peluang gas fields), Indonesia;
45% in the Sampang PSC (Oyong and Wortel gas fields), Indonesia;
20% in the Deepwater Block R PSC (Bestari oil discovery), Malaysia;
45% in the SS-11 PSC, Bangladesh;
50% in Block 123 PSC and 40% in Block 124 PSC, Vietnam.

All Santos employees associated with these assets will transfer to Ophir as part of the sale.

The producing assets sold are relatively late-life and are not prioritized for capital in the Santos portfolio. Santos’ share of production from the assets in the first quarter of 2018 was 1.4 MMboe.

Under the terms of the sale, the transaction will have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2018. Completion is expected in the second half of 2018 and is subject to customary consents and approvals for a transaction of this nature. Completion is also subject to approval by Ophir shareholders as required under London Stock Exchange regulations, expected to take place in June 2018.

Proceeds from the sale will be applied to further reduce Santos’ net debt, which stood at $2.5 billion at the end of March 2018.