Apache Corporation today confirmed it has signed a deal with ANZ Bank to buy the 65 per cent interest in Burrup Holdings once held by the Oswal Group.
ANZ, which was owed nearly $900 million by the Oswal family, seized the stake in the company a year ago.
The commercial terms of the deal have not been revealed.
Apache said it planned to proceed with the development of a technical ammonium nitrate (TAN) plant in the Burrup Peninsula region of WA to be developed by a consortium including Burrup Holdings, however was negotiating to sell most of its interest in the project to Orica.
Apache chairman and CEO G. Steven Farris said the company did not plan to operate the facility; it would rely on those with experience in the sector to instead.
“After a year of significant turmoil surrounding the Burrup plant ownership, Apache decided to make this investment in order to stabilise the project and secure a long-term economically viable market for out natural gas production in Western Australia,” he said.
Apache has been the leading supplier of natural gas to Burrup Fertilisers since the plant commenced production in 2006.
The plant is one of the world’s largest ammonium production facilities, producing 6 per cent of the total world output of tradeable ammonia.
Premier Colin Barnett told reporters that Apach was primarily a petroleum producer, but it was a large company and a long-term participant in the West Australian economy.
"Under the ownership of the Oswal family, that project, Burrup Fertilisers, had gone into administration, so there was an uncertainty about its future," he said.
Mr Barnett said it was good news that Apache, with its strong balance sheet, had bought into Burrup and also indicated that with Orica they intended to build an ammonium nitrate plant alongside it.
The transaction is expected to be completed in late January or early February, 2012.
