Japan's Inpex to Acquire Stakes in Australia's Beetaloo Shale

March 25 - Japanese oil and gas producer Inpex 1605.T said on Wednesday its Australian unit has signed a farm-in deal with Daly Waters Energy to buy stakes in the Beetaloo shale basin in Australia's Northern Territory.

• Inpex will buy an 11.25% stake in the First Strategic Development Area (FSDA) North and FSDA South, and a 20% stake in the Beetaloo Central Development (BCD) area.
• The deal covers about 68,000 acres in the Beetaloo Sub-basin.
• The agreement also gives Inpex the option to raise its stake in the BCD area to 43.75%, adding another 75,000 acres.
• Inpex said its investment as a non-operator in the FSDA acreage will help support gas supplies to the Northern Territory, adding to emergency gas already supplied to the region from its Ichthys LNG project.
• The company sees the Beetaloo Sub-basin as a possible long-term source of gas for its two existing Ichthys LNG processing trains in Darwin, and potentially for a third train.
• "The Middle East conflict and the resultant loss of LNG supply from the Persian Gulf highlights Australia's valued position as one of the world's most reliable suppliers of energy to key trading partners such as Japan and Taiwan," said Tetsu Murayama, Inpex's Managing Director and Country Chair for Australia.