AWE Appoints Adviser for Sell-down of Assets Offshore Indonesia

AWE has appointed Credit Suisse as its adviser for a planned sell-down of up to 50 percent of the Ande Ande Lumut (AAL) oil project, offshore Indonesia, the company disclosed in a statement late Tuesday.

AWE currently owns 100 percent and is the operator of the North West Natuna Production Sharing Contract (PSC) where the AAL project is sited.

The estimated gross recoverable resource for the AAL project is 76 million barrels of oil. AWE has already booked a 2C contingent resource of 43 million barrels, which represents AWE's 100 percent interest after the Indonesian government's share of the PSC.

Commenting on AWE's decision, the company's Managing Director Bruce Clement said: "Over the past 12 months we have made significant progress with preliminary design work for the wellhead platform and FPSO production facility now complete. This work has been undertaken in parallel with subsurface reservoir evaluation, simulation modelling, and engineering studies which have further optimized the approved plan of development."

Clement added: "We anticipate completing the sell-down of up to 50 percent of the project ahead of a final investment decision which is scheduled for the second half of 2013. The sale will crystallize some of the value in the project, which we believe is considerable, and will allow AWE to share development risk while still achieving an excellent rate of return."

An independent audit of the oil field's contingent resources will be undertaken as part of the sale process and binding offers are anticipated in mid-2013.