no1sg...you mentioned Tassie Shoals...found this artcicle on the seeaoc site which may be relevant... particularly like these 2 paragraphs
"The acquisition of a 40% interest in Evans Shoal is a large transaction for Magellan, which is still seeking funds for the $100 million deal and has yet to settle the transaction almost six months after it was announced.
Hendrich would not comment on whether this left the door ajar for MEO, but he did tell PetroleumnNews.net a number of opportunities were emerging to acquire gas for Tassie Shoal"
Article
Planets aligning for the high CO2 fields of Timor Sea
THE high-CO2 gas fields of the Timor Sea, including Evans Shoal, Caldita and Barossa, could be racing into development contention thanks to some unfolding corporate plays.
The undeveloped gas fields of the region came back into focus in March with the news that Santos had agreed to sell Magellan Petroleum its 40% interest in the 6.6 trillion cubic feet Evans Shoal field in NT/P48.
Under the deal, Magellan is seeking to replace Santos as operator for all stakeholders in the permit, which includes Petronas (25%), Shell (25%) and Osaka Gas (10%).
Evans Shoal is the second-largest offshore gas field in Australian waters without an approved development plan, behind only the 8Tcf Scarborough field.
Various proposals have been mooted over the past decade, including an innovative methanol project on Tassie Shoal by MEO.
The methanol component effectively sequesters the high CO2 content of Evans Shoal gas, at about 26%.
MEO?s project was well advanced before the global financial crisis hit in 2008. The company has all environmental and government approvals for a 3 million tonne per annum LNG plant and two 1.75MMtpa methanol plants, built on concrete gravity structures moored in the 14-metre deep waters of Tassie Shoal, immediately south of the Evans Shoal field.
However, MEO has been unable to secure a supply agreement with Santos and the other Evans Shoal partners.
A new board was installed two years ago and a new executive team under managing director Jurgen Hendrich has been seeking alternative supply options to finally secure gas for Tassie Shoal.
The company?s focus has been on proving up its own gas discoveries ? Heron and Blackwood in the 100%-owned NT/P68 permit immediately southwest of Evans Shoal.
Magellan has announced its own plans to develop Evans Shoal as a methanol project with an unnamed partner.
Speculation about the partner?s identity is focused on Methanex of North America, which in the past decade conducted feasibility studies for world-scale methanol projects on the Burrup Peninsula and in Darwin.
Neither project was developed, and Australia?s only methanol production continues to be a small research plant at Laverton, Victoria.
The acquisition of a 40% interest in Evans Shoal is a large transaction for Magellan, which is still seeking funds for the $100 million deal and has yet to settle the transaction almost six months after it was announced.
Hendrich would not comment on whether this left the door ajar for MEO, but he did tell PetroleumnNews.net a number of opportunities were emerging to acquire gas for Tassie Shoal.
A number of equity holders in the Timor Sea have shifted their attention to LNG from CSG in Queensland, including Santos, Shell, Petronas and ConocoPhillips, which is currently conducting a global asset sale.
ConocoPhillips is operator of the Caldita and Barossa gas fields, discovered in 2006 and 2007 as part of an aggressive exploration campaign to secure additional gas for Darwin LNG.
Both fields also have significant CO2 content, at between 13% and 16%, and would fit well with MEO?s LNG/methanol plans for Tassie Shoal.
Hendrich said tougher government policy on retention leases will enhance the appeal of Tassie Shoal as a viable development option for stranded gas in the region.
?Our Tassie Shoal development proposal addresses the key elements that currently compromise the economic development of the regional stranded gas fields, including remoteness from land-based infrastructure, dealing with the high CO2 and overcoming high build costs by importing single, completed modules,? he said.
?Added to that, environmental approvals are in place such that once gas supply is confirmed, the FEED process can commence almost immediately.
?The Tassie Shoal projects have been granted major project facilitation (MPF) status and have the support of the Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and the Shadow Resources Minister Ian MacFarlane.?
Hendrich said MEO was now in a position to consider acquisitions after recently farming out a 50% interest in WA-360-P in the Carnarvon Basin to Petrobras.
MEO Price at posting:
58.5¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
