PTT in pole for Coogee sale

Thailand’s state oil company PTT has emerged as the frontrunner to buy unlisted Australian oil producer Coogee Resources.

The West Australian reported that PTT is carrying out due diligence of Coogee and its assets, including the Montara oil project in the Timor Sea, off northern Australia. Coogee announced in October that it would sell 100% of the company following unsolicited interest from potential buyers. The interest from buyers to secure and control Coogee was prompted by the decision of the company’s second-largest shareholder, Babcock & Brown, to sell its 35% stake. The West Australian added that PTT is thought to be the most interested prospective buyer to have spent time in the Coogee data room, which has been set up by Goldman Sachs JBWere, the investment bank carrying out the sales process. Other groups interested in Coogee include Woodside Petroleum, Apache and Australian Worldwide Exploration. However, the newspaper said that Coogee’s $270 million debt and question marks over the quality of its other assets has deterred most buyers. It is unclear whether PTT is considering buying all of Coogee or whether Gordon Martin, the company’s founder and majority shareholder on 60%, will remain an influential investor in the company. Perth-based Coogee's production in Australia comes from the mature Jabiru-Challis offshore oilfields, which it operates with a 70% stake. Gross output there in the first six months this year was about 450 barrels per day of oil. It is currently developing the 100%-owned Montara oil project, its key asset, which is near to Jabiru-Challis, as a standalone development. The Montara project, which has recoverable oil reserves of 24 million barrels, while the satellite Skua, Swift and Swallow fields have a combined 15 million barrels of oil. Coogee also has ambitions to develop an offshore methanol project that would commercialise the gas it owns in its Timor Sea permits.
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