Sasol buys R7bn stake in Canada gas field

Petrochemical company Sasol will buy a 50% stake in a shale gas field in Canada for R7,14-billion, it said on Tuesday.

This is its second deal with Canadian oil and gas company Talisman.

In the first deal, Sasol acquired a 50% interest in Farrell Creek, in a strategic partnership with Talisman.

The second deal involved acquiring a 50% interest in Cypress A.

Both shale gas fields are in the Montney Basin in western Canada.

Economically attractive
In an announcement on Tuesday, Sasol said the “transaction underpins the focused growth within Sasol’s upstream portfolio and accelerates the potential gas-to-liquids growth in North America”.

It said shale gas had become “an economically attractive alternative to conventional natural gas”.

The transaction would allow it to grow its international gas-to-liquids (GTL) portfolio.

“The company believes that there has been a structural shift in the dynamics between the natural gas price and oil price, making GTL an even stronger value proposition.”

Talisman and Sasol intended establishing a GTL plant in western Canada and were conducting a feasibility study.—Sapa