By Ross Kelly
SYDNEY--Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) bought 70% of Beach
Energy Ltd.'s (BPT.AU) exploration acreage in Tanzania,
underscoring East Africa's emergence as a new frontier in global
energy markets.
Beach has been searching for a partner for more than year to
help it explore the South Block of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, an
expanse of water more than 600 kilometers long and almost 100
kilometers across. Woodside has agreed to fund some of Beach's
drilling and research costs, but specific deal terms aren't being
made public.
East Africa is attracting heightened interest from international
energy companies following some large deepwater natural gas
discoveries off the coast of Tanzania and Mozambique. Oil prospects
have also been found in giant inland lakes that lie on the East
African Rift Valley.
These include a large oil discovery recently made by Tullow Oil
PLC (TLW.LN) at Lake Albert in Uganda. France's Total SA (TOT) owns
the North Block of Lake Tanganyika and has also invested in Tullow
Oil's assets along with China's Cnooc Ltd. (CEO).
The deal comes as Woodside grows its portfolio of international
assets to offset stagnating growth at home. Earlier this month, it
bought a stake in some Moroccan exploration prospects, adding to
recent purchases in Myanmar, Ireland and New Zealand.
Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@wsj.com
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