A consortium led by XRG, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and including Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company (ADQ) and Carlyle, has submitted a non-binding indicative proposal to acquire the Australian energy group Santos. The proposal is for the acquisition of all of the ordinary shares on issue in Santos for a cash offer price of US$5.76 (A$8.89) per Santos share, representing a 28% premium to the last closing price and a 39% premium to Santos' 6-month volume weighted average price. XRG had already submitted two confidential, non-binding and indicative proposals to acquire Santos in March 2025.
Santos is one of the main oil and gas producers in Australia, active in LNG projects and in CCS, with the 1.7 Mt/year Moomba CCS project in South Australia commissioned in 2024. XRG aims to invest in further gas and LNG developments in Australia and the Asia Pacific region; the company would also invest in Santos’ carbon capture and storage projects, low carbon fuels, other decarbonization initiatives.