By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Apr. 9 -- Interoil Corp., Cairns, Australia, will buy Royal Dutch/Shell Group's retail and distribution assets in Papua New Guinea for $18 million in cash and stock.
The deal will give Shell 9% of InterOil's outstanding shares.
Earlier, Shell International Eastern Trading Co. of Singapore agreed to buy excess naphtha for 3 years from the 32,500-b/d, $180 million hydroskimming refinery InterOil is building at Port Moresby (OGJ Online, Apr. 4, 2001).
InterOil will lease the retail and distribution assets back to Shell to facilitate Shell's continuing responsibility for daily operations.
Shell will buy all of its Papua New Guinea product supplies from the refinery. It also will buy and market all the excess export capacity of the refinery for 3 years.
The deal will become effective when the refinery begins operations in late 2002.