SK E&S Co., the gas distribution arm of South Korea’s SK Group, agreed to buy a 37.5 percent stake in gas fields off northern Australia from ConocoPhillips and Santos Ltd. for $310 million.

The stake in the Barossa and Caldita fields in the Bonaparte Basin may be raised to 49.5 percent should exploration drills prove they have sufficient reserves, the Seoul-based company said in a statement. The investment cuts Houston-based ConocoPhillips’ stake to 37.5 percent and Adelaide-based Santos’s holding to 25 percent, according to the statement.

SK Group, owner of the country’s biggest oil refiner, is boosting investments in offshore fields. The company has earmarked 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) for investments in resources this year, up from 1.3 trillion won last year and quadruple the amount spent on similar investments four years ago.

Depending on results from exploration drills in the Australian fields, SK E&S’ investment may rise to $520 million, the statement said. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Norton Rose advised to SK, it said.

Santos, Australia’s third-largest oil producer, is a partner in the ConocoPhillips-led Darwin LNG plant in Australia’s Northern Territory. ConocoPhillips is “very interested” in expanding the LNG venture with supplies from gas fields in the region, Todd Creeger, ConocoPhillips’ Australian unit president, said in an interview last month. 

(Bloomberg)