SYDNEY--Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) added
exploration prospects in Morocco to a growing portfolio of
international assets it hopes will someday offset stagnating growth
at home.
Woodside agreed to buy a 25% interest in six permits in the
Doukkala Basin off the African country's northwest coat, for an
undisclosed sum. It has an option to increase its holding to 50%
and assume operatorship from current owner Chariot Oil & Gas
PLC (CHAR.LN), contingent on carrying drilling costs.
The deal adds to recent purchases by Woodside of exploration
permits in Myanmar, Ireland and New Zealand.
The company's record outside Australia to date has been
uninspiring. Dry holes offshore South Korea and unsuccessful
ventures in Africa, including in Mauritania, may have made
investors apprehensive about its renewed offshore focus.
Still, Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman last month
demonstrated the company would attempt to take a conservative
approach to investments by walking away from a proposed US$2.5
billion deal to buy into the large Leviathan gas discovery offshore
Israel.
Analysts are concerned the company's earnings will fall in
coming years, after it failed to find enough gas to feed a planned
expansion of its Pluto export project in Australia. Cost pressures
also delayed the Browse gas-export project nearby by at least two
years.
Mr. Coleman said the Moroccan assets, which cover more than
4,000 square miles in water depths ranging from 500-to-12,000 feet,
fit with its strategy of investing in high-quality "frontier and
emerging basins'.
Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires