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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 00:10 GMT | more >>

Beach spins off Basker Manta stake



By Upstream staff 

Australian oil and gas producer Beach Petroleum said today it has sold a 10% stake in its Basker Manta Gummy oil project off Victoria state to Japan's Sojitz Corporation for A$123 million (US$117.1 million).

Beach Petroleum said the effective date of the sale was 31 December and the transaction has helped lift its net profit to A$58.8 million in the six months ended December, up 148% from a year earlier.

Following the sale, Beach Petroleum said it would have a 30% stake in the project. Operator Anzon Australia will have 40% equity, while Japan's Itochu Corp and Sojitz will hold 20% and 10% respectively.

Shares in Beach Petroleum were up 1.4% at A$1.45 by 0210 GMT, compared with a 2.1% decline in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200, Reuters reported.

Itochu, Japan's fourth-largest trading company, paid A$246 million for its interest in August.

The project, off south-eastern Australia, has estimated proved and probable reserves of about 40 million barrels of oil, 380 petajoules of gas and around 90 million barrels of condensate.

Beach, Australia's biggest oil and gas producer, today reported a year-on-year doubling of first-half net profit to A$58.8 million, as revenues rose 30% to A$340 million.

Beach reported a slight fall in oil and gas production in the period to 4.58 million barrels of oil equivalent from 4.70 million in the same period last year.

The company said a fall in production due to a lengthy shutdown for maintenance of the Moomba processing plant in South Australia in December has been offset by a 46% gain in output from its assets in the onshore Cooper and offshore Gippsland basins in Australia.


Friday, 29 February, 2008, 03:07 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 29 February, 2008, 06:37 GMT

All change: Australia's Beach Petroleum has sold a 10% share of its stake in a project off Victoria
 

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