Australia’s Woodside Energy will sell a 40% stake in the Louisiana LNG complex to global investment firm Stonepeak for USD 5.7 billion, the company said on Monday.
The move is meant to reduce the Perth-headquartered company’s capex and support the project’s progress towards a final investment decision.
Stonepeak will provide the funding on an accelerated basis, contributing 75% of the capital expenditure for 2025 and 2026, with the remainder to be funded in subsequent years.
The Louisiana LNG project has a permitted capacity of 27.6 million tonnes per year. Woodside anticipates five LNG plants being developed in four phases.
Bechtel is providing EPC for the mega-project and has begun site construction.
“We are very pleased to have Stonepeak join us in Louisiana LNG, given their demonstrated track record investing in US gas and LNG infrastructure across LNG facilities, LNG carriers and floating storage and regasification units,” Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said.
“This transaction further confirms Louisiana LNG’s position as a globally attractive investment set to deliver long-term value to our shareholders. It is the result of a highly competitive process that attracted leading global counterparties and significantly reduces Woodside’s capital expenditure for this world-class project.
“The accelerated capital contribution from Stonepeak further enhances Louisiana LNG returns and strengthens Woodside’s near-term capacity for shareholder distributions.
“Our partnership with Stonepeak, together with our lump sum turnkey EPC agreement with Bechtel and existing regulatory permits, give us confidence to progress at pace towards a final investment decision on Louisiana LNG.
“We are pleased with the strong level of interest from counterparties and customers in Louisiana LNG. We will continue advancing discussions with additional potential partners targeting an equity sell-down of around 50% in the integrated project. As we have demonstrated with our Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 Project in Australia, the addition of an infrastructure partner unlocks value and paves the way for other strategic equity partners,” she said.
Stonepeak is a globally active investor in what it terms “essential infrastructure that delivers enduring social utility.” It works on behalf of 310-plus investors, including pensions, endowments and other large institutions.
“With the need to bring significant additional capacity online over the coming years, we have strong conviction in the critical role Louisiana LNG will play in the US LNG export market,” Stonepeak senior managing director and head of US private equity James Wyper said.
“The project represents a compelling opportunity to invest in a newbuild LNG export facility nearing FID approval with an attractive risk-reward profile and best-in-class partners in both Bechtel and Woodside to construct and operate the asset.”
Source: theenergyyear.com