Woodside leaves Lake Tanganyika, and Beach
Beach Energy has lost its second big-ticket exploration partner in three months after Woodside Petroleum yesterday walked from a farm-in deal covering oil prospects in Tanzanian territorial waters of Lake Tanganyika.
Woodside provided no details on why it decided not to move into the next round of exploration spending in the Lake Tanganyika South production sharing agreement, a month after it also pulled back from involvement in the Rabat Deep Offshore permit off Morocco.
“This decision to exit the Lake Tanganyika South PSA is consistent with our disciplined approach to the management of our global exploration portfolio,” Woodside said.
While Woodside is cleaning up its expansive African exploration acreage, its withdrawal from Lake Tanganyika leaves Beach short of another big partner with deep pockets.
Three months ago Beach, whose new chief executive is former Woodside executive director Rob Cole, confirmed that Chevron had pulled out of a big Cooper Basin farm-in deal in central Australia. Whereas Beach’s Cooper Basin acreage is likely to remain a core asset for the company, it remains unclear what it will do with Lake Tanganyika. In a statement yesterday announcing Woodside’s withdrawal, Beach said it would assess “all options”, which will include an exit from Tanzania.
In other Woodside news, long-serving non-executive director David McEvoy has joined the board of Kerry Stokes’ increasingly energy-focused Seven Group Holdings.
Mr McEvoy, an oil and gas industry veteran who spent 34 years with ExxonMobil, is due to complete his stint on the Woodside board in 2017.
Mr McEvoy also sits on the board of AWE, which jostles with Beach for leadership of Australia’s mid-cap oil and gas sector.
Mr McEvoy’s appointment as a non-executive director of SGH comes as the company increases its investment in the oil and gas space, notably through 19.9 per cent shareholdings each in Cooper Basin-focused Beach and Drillsearch Energy and direct ownership of upstream assets in Australia and the US.
