Japanese takeover
p. 31 · Read in the full issue
JAPANESE interests have now en tered the Papua New Guinea oil exploration scene with the giant Mitsubishi company having taken control of a minority partner in the Kutubu oil venture a project which includes the rich lagifu-Hedinia field in Southern
Highlands Province.
Mitsubishi will pay US$75 million for all the shares in the United States-based Merlin Petroleum Co, which in turn has a 6.25 per cent share in Kutubu. The deal involves buying 79.5 per cent of
Merlin’s stock from the former controll ing shareholder, the troubled Bond Cor poration, of Australia, for U 5559.6 mil lion. The deal involves a substantial loss for Bond, which paid SUS9O.B million for the stake back in April 1987.
Merlin also holds a 12.5 per cent in terest in PPL 101, another onshore li cence area in Papua New Guinea; this has so far proved prospective only for gas.
Australian analysts have valued Merlin at just under US$BO million, which sug gests that Mitsubishi Oil has negotiated a
bargain. □