Repsol has reached an agreement with Shell for the sale of its LNG assets for US$6.7bn, which includes the minority stakes in Atlantic LNG (Trinidad & Tobago), Peru LNG and Bahia de Bizkaia Electricidad (BBE in Spain) as well as the LNG sale contracts and time charters with their associated loans and debt. With this sale, Repsol will reduces its net debt by more than half to €2.2bn.
Shell will then acquire Repsol's stakes in the four operating liquefaction trains of Atlantic LNG (20% in the 3 Mt/year train-1, 25% in the 3.3 Mt/year trains 2 and 3 and 22.5% in the 5.2 Mt/year train-4), its 20% interest and exclusive off-taking rights in the 4.4 Mt/year Peru LNG liquefaction plant, and its 25% stake in an 800 MW CCGT power plant in Spain, operated by Bahía de Bizkaia Electricidad (25% Iberdrola, 25% BP, 25% EVE). The acquisition should add some 7.2 Mt/year of LNG volumes through long-term off-take agreements, including some 4 Mt/year of equity LNG plant capacity. As part of this agreement, Shell has committed to supply around 0.1 Mt/year of LNG to Repsol’s Canaport LNG terminal in Canada over a period of 10 years.
The transaction, which has an effective date of 1 October 2012, is expected to close in the second half of 2013 or early 2014, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions precedent.