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AWE Limited (ASX:AWE) will pay shareholders a special dividend after agreeing to sell part of its Bass Basin portfolio to a Japanese company, Toyota Tsusho, for $80 million.



The oil and gas company says reducing its stake in the Tasmanian joint venture will provide a more balanced asset portfolio, strong balance sheet and flexibility to fund its projects.



The deal also reduces AWE’s risk-exposure to the funding requirements for the BasGas project.

AWE shareholders can expect to receive a fully franked special dividend of 5 cents per share in January 2012.

In the 2011 financial year AWE booked a net loss of $118 million.