Challenges ahead for Australia’s mature assets
Competition for a shrinking pool of capital may put the country’s older offshore oil and gas fields on the back foot in the coming years
Australia has long promoted itself as a low-risk investment destination, which has made it attractive to developers looking to add low-risk, end-of-life production assets to their portfolios. But the collapse of two high-profile sales in recent months, coupled with increasing regulatory scrutiny over abandonment and decommissioning obligations, suggest the sector is in for leaner times. Aborted processes ExxonMobil and Italy’s Eni have both shelved plans to divest stakes in mature offshore assets. Eni put plans to offload its Australia holdings, estimated to be worth c.$1bn, on pause in January, reportedly after receiving offers far short of its expectations. The company owns stakes in a ran
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
