Centrica and QPI to jointly acquire natural gas assets

30th Apr 2013 07:41

FTSE 100-listed integrated energy company Centrica and Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), the international arm and wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP), have agreed to acquire jointly a package of producing conventional natural gas and crude oil assets for one billion Canadian dollars (650m pounds) in cash. The companies will also acquire the associated infrastructure located in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.The assets will be held in a newly established partnership between Centrica, which will hold a 60% operating share, and QPI, which will own the remaining 40% share. The assets include proven and probable (2P) reserves estimated by the partners at 978bn cubic feet equivalent (bcfe) 90% natural gas, with estimated 2013 production of approximately 250m cubic feet, equivalent per day (mmcfe/d), equal to 15m barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) per annum. The assets are mainnly located in South and Central Alberta where they overlap with existing Centrica assets and in North East British Columbia. The package also includes more than 1.0m acres of undeveloped land which have significant potential for reserves and production upside through the use of horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing. Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, said: "The acquisition provides attractive returns in a region we know well, and significantly increases the size and quality of our portfolio. It also presents exciting development opportunities, with the potential to improve returns further." Nasser Al-Jaidah, Chief Executive Officer of QPI, added: "This investment in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin is a significant step in the development of QPI's global upstream business. We look forward to continuing to advance QP's overall North American energy business through the memorandum of understanding and other initiatives." MF