Petronas and ExxonMobil show interest in Shell’s Masela LNG divestment

Petronas and ExxonMobil show interest in Shell’s Masela LNG divestment

Malaysia’s Petronas is the latest company tipped to be interested in acquiring a stake in the proposed Abadi liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Masela Block offshore Indonesia that is led by Japan’s Inpex (TYO:1605)

Inpex’s partner Shell (LON:SHEL) is seeking to divest its 35% equity in the Masela scheme, where development progress has stalled in recent years.

On Tuesday, Fatar Yani Abdurrahman, deputy head of Indonesia’s upstream regulator SKK Migas told reporters in Jakarta that Petronas is interested to buy a share of the Masela Block. “Petronas is interested, but we are currently reviewing it,” he said.

The Indonesian government, desperate to get the mega project moving forward, as well as SKK Migas, have cited numerous potential suitors for Shell’s stake in the scheme. Unnamed oil and gas companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ExxonMobil have all reportedly shown interest in acquiring a share in the block that holds 360 billion cubic metres (cm) of gas in the Abadi field.

In late October it was revealed that ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is carrying out data studies on the Masela Block, as is Indonesia’s national oil company (NOC) Pertamina, which is being pushed by the government to lead a consortium to