Santos Picks Up Stake in Malaysian Offshore Oil, Gas Block

Inpex Corporation on Friday announced it has agreed to transfer 10 percent of its participating interest in the Malaysian deepwater Block R to Santos.

Santos also separately agreed to acquire a 10 percent participating interest in the block from JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration bringing the Australian firm’s total participating interest in the block to 20 percent.

Inpex currently owns a 37.5 percent participating interest (inclusive of the portion to be transferred to Santos) in the block, where it conducts exploration activities alongside operator JX and Petronas.

The block located in offshore East Malaysia covers an area of 672 km2 with a water depth ranging from 100m to 1,400m. The block lies in the area where large reserves of oil and natural gas were discovered.