XRG, ADNOC’s international investment company, has agreed to acquire Shell plc subsidiary Shell Australia Pty Ltd.’s 16.67% interest in the Woodside Energy-operated North West Shelf (NWS) project in Western Australia for $1.45 billion plus a milestone-linked contingent payment.

The acquisition includes associated upstream interests and pipeline and midstream infrastructure. Shell’s stake also comprises varying participating interests in related petroleum and pipeline titles, project agreements, offtake arrangements, NWS project companies, and CNOOC-related joint ventures.

The NWS project is an LNG and domestic gas development in Western Australia comprising interconnected joint ventures involving Woodside, Chevron, BP, Shell, MIMI, and CNOOC. The project has liquefaction capacity of 14.3 million tonnes/year (tpy) and 4.4 tcfe of remaining resources, XRG said.

The transaction marks XRG’s first investment in Australian LNG and supports the company’s strategy to expand its international gas portfolio and establish a position closer to demand growth in the Asia-Pacific region, XRG said.

In a separate release, Shell said declining production from the original NWS fields has created capacity at the project’s Karratha Gas Plant and that the venture is transitioning to a mixed resource-production and third-party toll-processing business.

Shell in 2023 sold its interest in the Browse project, a proposed offshore gas development that would transport gas from the Browse basin to Karratha for processing and export through existing NWS infrastructure.

XRG said it believes the North West Shelf will continue to play a “key role in supporting both domestic and export gas supply for decades to come.”

Shell will retain a substantial Australian position through its operated Shell QGC and Prelude FLNG projects, the Crux development, and joint venture interests in Arrow Energy and Gorgon.

The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.