Woodside announced that that it has entered into a binding Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire ExxonMobil’s share of the Scarborough gas field located in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia.
Under the terms of the SPA, Woodside will acquire ExxonMobil's 50% interest in WA-1-R containing the 7.3 TCF Scarborough gas field (gross, 2C). Upon completion of the transaction Woodside will have a 75% interest in WA-1-R and a 50% interest in WA-61-R, WA-62-R and WA-63-R. “Completion is subject to pre-emption rights and customary regulatory approvals, and is targeted by end Q1 2018.”
“As at the date of this release, the Woodside contingent resource estimate for the Scarborough area resources, being the Scarborough, Thebe and Jupiter gas fields, is gross (100%) 9.2 TC of dry gas (at the 2C confidence level). Upon completion of the acquisition, Woodside’s net share of the resources is estimated to increase from 2.8 TCF to 6.4 TCF of dry gas.
“The [Scarborough field’s] development concept involves maximising existing infrastructure at the Pluto LNG plant to meet a market gap we expect will emerge from the early 2020s.”

Updates:

On 12-Mar-2018, Woodside announced that the company and BHP have entered into an agreement in relation to the proposed development of the Scarborough gas field under which:
· BHP waives its right of pre-emption and provides its consent to the sale by ExxonMobil to Woodside of its 50% interest in WA-1-R and the Scarborough. This will result in Woodside holding a 75% interest in Scarborough;
· Woodside will become the Scarborough operator on completion of the transaction between ExxonMobil and Woodside;
· Woodside grants BHP an option to purchase an additional 10% interest in Scarborough on equivalent consideration and terms to the transaction with ExxonMobil. The option may be exercised by BHP at any time prior to the earlier of 31 December 2019 and approval to commence the FEED phase of the Scarborough Development;
· Woodside and BHP will undertake good faith discussions in relation to: the unitisation of WA-1-R (which contains the majority of the Scarborough gas field) and the adjacent WA-62-R (in which Woodside and BHP each hold a 50% interest);
· Potential offers to sell up to a 10% interest in Scarborough to foundation LNG buyers on a pro-rata basis; and technical and commercial arrangements for the Scarborough Development.
The Scarborough joint venture will now be focused on finalising the development concept prior to entering FEED and positioning for FID in 2020,” Woodside said, adding that completion of the transaction between ExxonMobil and Woodside continues to be targeted by end of Q1 2018.
On 30-Jun-2018, Woodside said that its preferred development option is to process Scarborough gas through a brownfield expansion of Pluto LNG. "The composition of Scarborough gas is well suited to the Pluto LNG plant, which is designed for lean gas and nitrogen removal."
Woodside’s proposed downstream development will require an additional train at Pluto LNG with a targeted capacity of 4-5 MMT/Y (100% project). “Woodside is targeting FEED entry in Q1 2019, FID in 2020, upstream ready for start-up (RFSU) in 2023 and downstream RFSU in 2024.”
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