Hess’ S-E Asia assets attract interest
SINGAPORE: The Southeast Asian offshore natural gas assets of United States oil and gas producer Hess Corp , estimated to be worth as much as US$5 billion (RM20.5 billion), have attracted takeover interest from firms including Thailand’s PTTEP Pcl and Austrian energy group OMV AG, said people familiar with the matter.
Hess, which has a collection of gas fields in North Malay Basin in offshore Malaysia and in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA) with 50 per cent equal partner Petroliam Nasional Bhd, had not yet decided whether to sell the assets, according to financial and industry sources.
Their estimated market value would be about US$4 billion to US$5 billion, said the sources.
The interest in Hess’ assets, among the few long-term and sizeable projects in the region, comes as cashed-up firms such as PTTEP are buying overseas assets, while the likes of OMV and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company have been scouring for acquisitions in Asia.
Hess, which hasn’t reported a profit since 2014, has been under pressure from investors to make money. It posted a smaller-thanexpected loss in April-June, but many of its peers have turned profitable after the oil price crash two years ago.
The firm is developing large offshore oil projects in South America and US shale oil. In 2014, it sold its Thai assets to PTTEP for US$1 billion and also sold its Indonesian assets.
“We don’t comment on rumours but we continue to believe that our Malaysia assets are an important part of our portfolio and our value creation strategy,” said Hess spokesman Lorrie Hecker.
“JDA and North Malay Basin are significant long-term, lowcost cash generators, producing stable production and free cash flows, which provide funding for our compelling, long-term opportunities in Guyana and the Bakken (in the US).”