Tamboran Resources is interested in Australian shale gas. The company sold new shares to finance the acquisition of a majority stake in Beetaloo from Origin Energy. This sale allowed the company to secure $89 million.
Tamboran acquires 77.5% of Beetaloo
Tamboran acquires 77.5% of Beetaloo from Origin Energy. The acquisition is in a 50/50 partnership with Bryan Sheffield, the largest shareholder and former CEO of Parsley Energy.
Tamboran, and his partner, are paying A$60 million to Origin. In addition, a 5.5% royalty on future Beetaloo production is provided. Finally, Tamboran and B. Sheffield will sell 100 TJ of gas per day to Origin for 10 years. According to the company’s objectives, production should begin in 2025.
To finance this operation, Tamboran organized a stock sale. The share price was set at AUD 0.21. This represents a reduction of nearly 50% from the price investors paid when the company went public in July 2021.
Thus, Tamboran becomes a major player in a more than promising sub-basin. It is estimated that it would be comparable to the Marcellus Shale, the largest American gas field.
Growth prospects
This operation allows Tamboran to ensure its growth in the years to come. That’s according to Joel Riddle, the company’s general manager. In fact, the company is guaranteed to sell gas for 10 years. In addition to sales to Origin Energy, Temboran could deliver gas to LNG export plants.
J. Riddle states:
“The acquisition of Origin’s assets is extremely cost-effective.”
However, Tamboran will have to overcome some challenges. In fact, the company must reduce drilling costs to A$20 million per well. This, using rigs drilling up to 4,000 meters horizontally. As a comparison, today in Asutralia, the aircraft stop at 1,000 meters.
According to Tamboran’s managing director, the cost of its pilot project would be about A$300 million.
