Inpex floats sale of WA assets

The Inpex-operated onshore liquefied natural gas processing facilities at Bladin Point. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford.

Japanese oil company Inpex Corporation is believed to be selling its West Australian assets in a deal that could fetch up to $200m.

On offer are its Coniston, Van Gogh and Ravensworth projects off the coast of Western Australia near Exmouth in the Carnarvon Basin. Inpex holds a 47.5 per cent interest in the projects, with Santos, the operator, holding the remainder. First-year production from the Coniston Field was about 18,000 barrels of oil per day in 2015.

Production started in 2010 for the Van Gogh oilfield, which was projected to produce 40,000 barrels of oil per day.

It comes as some question whether Japanese powerhouse Inpex will divest an interest in the flagship Ichthys LNG Project in Darwin. The up-and-running project is a joint venture between Inpex, which owns just over 62 per cent, and Total, which holds 30 per cent,

CPC Corporation Taiwan and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, Jera and Toho Gas hold the remainder.

Some expect Total to sell its interest in the project in the medium term in a sale potentially to a quasi-infrastructure fund in a deal likely to be worth about $2bn.