Australia's Woodside Energy to buy US LNG developer Tellurian for $1.2 bln
Corrects to add dropped word "million" in paragraph 6 on Woodside's annual LNG production
By Ayushman Ojha and Curtis Williams
July 22 (Reuters) -Australia's Woodside Energy WDS.AX said on Monday it had agreed to buy U.S. liquefied natural gas developer Tellurian TELL.A, including its U.S. Gulf Coast Driftwood LNG export project, for $1.2 billion including debt.
The agreement could strengthen the United States' position as the world's largest producer of the superchilled gas by securing the completion of Tellurian's 27.6 million metric ton per annum facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The transaction includes the $900 million cash purchase of outstanding Tellurian common stock at $1 per share, Woodside said in a statement, representing a more than 75% premium to Tellurian's last closing price.
The deal gives the Australian firm access to a fully authorised project in the U.S. amid difficulties for other LNG developers to advance proposals due to President Joe Biden administration's pause on approvals for new LNG exports to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S.
The acquisition "positions Woodside to be a global LNG powerhouse," said the company's CEO, Meg O'Neill.
The transaction adds a scalable U.S. LNG development opportunity to Woodside's existing 10 millionmetric tons a year of equity LNG in Australia, she added.
The agreement will also help solve Tellurian's financial woes. The U.S. company has been searching for financial partners to fund the Driftwood LNG facility. In May, it said it would sell its upstream assets to pay off some of its debt.
The Driftwood LNG project has had many setbacks, including the cancellation of some LNG supply deals amid concerns over the company's ability to finish the project.
In a letter on Sunday urging shareholders to accept the offer, Tellurian Executive Chairman Martin Houston said the deal was in the company's best interests because it would be difficult to raise the billions required to build the plant without a commitment from long-term customers for all of the project's output.
"Equity providers are now less inclined to take risk ahead of projects being fully contracted," Houston told shareholders.
Tellurian's ability to get immediate cash from the sale was also a reason he gave for supporting the offer.
Woodside said it was aiming for the project to be ready for a final investment decision for phase 1 from the first quarter of 2025.
"Woodside expects to leverage its global LNG expertise to unlock this fully permitted development and expand its relationship with Bechtel, which is the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor for both Driftwood LNG and our Pluto Train 2 project in Australia," Woodside said.
Reporting by Ayushman Ojha in Bengaluru and Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Chris Reese, Christopher Cushing and Jamie Freed
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
