Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, Oct. 27 -- Just a few weeks after abandoning it's $13.8 billion (Aus.) hostile takeover attempt on Sydney-based Origin Energy Ltd., BG Group is believed to have trained its focus on its Queensland coal seam methane joint venture partner Queensland Gas Co. (QGC), Brisbane.
Details, expected Monday Oct. 27, have not yet been announced, but both QGC and its largest shareholder AGL Energy went into simultaneous trading halts on Friday morning Oct. 24.
QGC also informed its own takeover targets Sunshine Gas and Roma Petroleum, both of Brisbane, to take no action on these bids for the moment. As a result Sunshine and Roma also called trading halts on Friday.
BG already owns 9.9% of QGC with the right to double that stake if there is a change in control of QGC. It also has 20% of that company's CSM reserves in Queensland's Surat/Bowen basins. The British company is keen to secure further supplies to feed its ambitious $8 billion plan to export the gas as LNG through the east coast port of Gladstone.
None of the major players would make any comment on Friday, but it is believed that the BG bid will be at least $3 billion.
