InterOil Corp. (NYSE: IOC), which agreed last month to be acquired by Australia's Oil Search Ltd., said June 30 it received an unsolicited offer from an unnamed bidder, with whom it would engage in further talks.
InterOil said Oil Search had allowed the company to proceed with the negotiations.
InterOil is an attractive takeover target for companies looking to tap the potential of Papua New Guinea's LNG reserves as it has 36.5% stake in a project in the Elk-Antelope fields.
RELATED: Oil Search Boosts LNG Push With $2.2 Billion InterOil Bid
Total SA (NYSE: TOT), Oil Search and the Papua New Guinea government are the company's partners in the project.
ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is another oil and gas major with an LNG project in the country, considered a good location due to its high-quality gas and low costs.
Elk-Antelope fields could hold at least 6.2 trillion cubic feet of gas, more than enough to fill one LNG processing train.
In May, InterOil agreed to be acquired by Oil Search in a $2.2 billion deal. InterOil Chief Executive Michael Hesson had said then that the company had received a number of other proposals, but he had declined to give details.
InterOil said on June 30 that its board continued to unanimously support the Oil Search transaction. A special shareholder meeting to discuss the deal is scheduled for July 28.
InterOil shares rose 4.6% to $44 in light premarket trading.
Recommended Reading
Segrist: The LNG Pause and a Big, Dumb Question
2024-04-25 - In trying to understand the White House’s decision to pause LNG export permits and wondering if it’s just a red herring, one big, dumb question must be asked.
Permian NatGas Hits 15-month Low as Negative Prices Linger
2024-04-16 - Prices at the Waha Hub in West Texas closed at negative $2.99/MMBtu on April 15, its lowest since December 2022.
Enterprise Increasing Permian NatGas Production
2024-04-03 - Enterprise Products Partners began service on two natural gas plants: the Leonidas in the Midland Basin and the Mentone 3 in the Delaware Basin, each with a capacity to process 300 MMcf/d of natural gas and 40,000 bbl/d of NGLs.
Exclusive: Chevron Balancing Low Carbon Intensity, Global Oil, Gas Needs
2024-03-28 - Colin Parfitt, president of midstream at Chevron, discusses how the company continues to grow its traditional oil and gas business while focusing on growing its new energies production, in this Hart Energy Exclusive interview.
US Expected to Supply 30% of LNG Demand by 2030
2024-02-23 - Shell expects the U.S. to meet around 30% of total global LNG demand by 2030, although reliance on four key basins could create midstream constraints, the energy giant revealed in its “Shell LNG Outlook 2024.”