Australian independent Santos has bought a 20pc stake in a deepwater exploration block offshore Malaysia from Japanese upstream firms Inpex and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration.
Santos has agreed to acquire a 20pc interest in block R offshore Borneo. Operators Inpex and JX's stake will fall to 27.5pc each after the deal. Malaysian state-owned oil firm Petronas holds the remaining 25pc stake. The value of the deal was undisclosed
Block R covers an area of 672km² in water depths of 100-1,400m. The block lies in an area where large reserves of oil and natural gas, such as the Kikeh and the Gumusut-Kakap oil fields were discovered, Inpex said. The partners plan to start drilling three wildcat wells this year.
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