PetroChina links with US firm ConocoPhillips for gas exploration

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PetroChina is increasing its Western Australian footprint with the purchase of 20 per cent of Poseidon gas field, and 29 per cent of Goldwyer. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:58am, 21 Feb 2013Updated: 5:27am, 22 Feb 2013

PetroChina has agreed to invest in two natural gas exploration projects in Western Australia in partnership with the US oil major ConocoPhillips, with the two companies also joining hands to explore for shale rock gas in south-west China.

Analysts said the move signifies PetroChina's confidence in the development potential of Australian gas projects despite concerns over rising costs, and its cautious attitude toward splashing money at gas projects in the United States and China.

PetroChina, the nation's largest oil and gas producer, has agreed to acquire a 20 per cent interest in the Poseidon field in Browse Basin, off the coast of north-west Australia. It will also buy a 29 per cent stake in the Goldwyer onshore shale gas project in the Canning Basin in Western Australia.

No financial terms were disclosed by either company.

The two companies will also sign an agreement to jointly explore for gas trapped in shale rock formations over an area of 2,000 square kilometres in the Neijiang-Dazu area in the Sichuan basin in south-west China.

A report from the American research company Sanford Bernstein said: "China is increasingly pivoting to Australia, Canada and emerging markets like East Africa to meet its long-term liquefied natural gas needs."