Shell sells Wheatstone stake for $US1.1bn

Royal Dutch Shell has announced it will sell its minority stake in Chevron's Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project and a related joint venture to the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company for $US1.13 billion.

Shell will sell its 6.4 per cent interest in the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project and its 8 per cent interest in the Wheatstone-Iago gas fields joint venture to KFPEC, subject to closing.

The company said there would be no impact on existing commercial arrangements as KFPEC is an existing joint venture partner in the Wheatstone project. 

“Shell will remain a major player in Australia’s energy industry," Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said.

"However, we are refocusing our investment to where we can add the most value with Shell’s capital and technology.

"We are making hard choices in our world-wide portfolio to improve Shell’s capital efficiency.”

The Wheatstone project will consist of two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per annum and a domestic gas plant.

First production from Wheatstone is targeted for 2016.