(WO) – TotalEnergies and INPEX have signed an agreement with PTTEP to acquire the 100% interest held by PTTEP in the AC-RL7 permit in Australia. Under the terms of the agreement, TotalEnergies will acquire a 26% interest in the permit in line with its equity in Ichthys LNG, while INPEX will acquire the remaining 74% and assume operatorship.

The permit covers an area of 418 km2 in the Timor Sea, approximately 250 km northeast of the Ichthys offshore facilities. This permit includes the Cash and Maple gas and condensate fields, discovered in 2002 and 1989 respectively, and subsequently appraised by several wells. The development of these fields is expected to contribute to the long-term supply of the Ichthys LNG natural gas liquefaction plant, in which TotalEnergies is a 26% partner while INPEX and other Asian minority shareholders hold the remaining 74%.

“These resources will help us to meet the long-term demand of our customers in the Asia-Pacific region for LNG. This acquisition is also supported by the efforts undertaken with INPEX in the Bonaparte CCS Assessment joint venture to appraise the area’s potential for geological storage of CO2, in order to abate CO2 emissions from the Ichthys LNG project”, said Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President Asia-Pacific, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies is the world’s third largest LNG player, with a market share of around 12% and a global portfolio of about 50 Mt/y thanks to its interests in liquefaction plants in all geographies. The company benefits from an integrated position across the LNG value chain, including production, transportation, access to more than 20 Mt/y of regasification capacity in Europe, trading, and LNG bunkering.