More than $2 billion was spent on acquiring liquefied natural gas assets in Australia from Apache Corp. and more deals are expected, Woodside Petroleum said.
Woodside announced it closed on a $2.8 billion deal with Apache to take on a minority stake in the Wheatstone LNG project and a majority interest in the Julimar-Brunello gas project.
The deal was announced first in December. Apache at the time said Woodside would have a "positive impact" on the regional projects.
The first phase of the Wheatstone project envisions deliveries of up to 8.9 million tons of LNG per year from third-party gas projects in Australia. Royal Dutch Shell dumped Wheatstone assets last year and sold off parts of its refinery presence in the country to Woodside Petroleum in a deal valued at $7.4 billion.
Woodside said it expects to close on another deal to acquire a stake from Apache in the Kitimat LNG project in Canada. Canada's National Energy Board last year approved a 25-year application to send about 320 million cubic feet of LNG per day from a port to be located either at Kitimat or Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
The announcement comes as both companies aim to retool their portfolios in an era of depressed oil prices.
In February Apache said it was cutting the number of rigs deployed by 70 percent and reducing staff employed in hydraulic fracturing by half. Woodside followed suit with its own staff cuts the next month.
