Eni has acquired the whole 32.5% interest from Shell Australia Proprietary Limited (Shell) in the Evans Shoal gas field, and has become the Operator of the Retention Lease NT/RL7 located in the north Bonaparte Basin, offshore Northern Australia. The field is located around 300km northwest of Darwin, where the Darwin LNG plant is operating. Eni estimates the resource base of the field to at least 8 Tcf of raw gas in place.

The transaction has been approved by the Joint Venture and the Australian Government has granted all the required approvals. The new NT/RL7 Joint Venture sees Eni Australia Ltd 65% (Operator), PETRONAS Carigali (Australia) Pty Ltd 25%, and Osaka Gas Australia Pty Ltd 10%.

This transaction represents a further step forward in Eni's growth plans in the Australasian region, following the successful startup in May 2017 of the Jangkrik gas field offshore Kalimantan, Indonesia, which supplies gas to the Bontang LNG plant.

Eni has been present in Australia through its subsidiary Eni Australia Ltd since 2000 and in Timor-Leste since 2006. In Australia, Eni is the operator and 100% owner of the Blacktip Gas Project. In addition, Eni has a non-operated interest in the Bayu-Undan gas and condensate field and in the associated Darwin LNG plant. Eni has interests in 14 offshore exploration and production licenses in Australia, Timor-Leste and JPDA waters, 13 of which are Eni-operated.