Oil & Gas Producers(0530)

LONDON (ShareCast) - Talks regarding BG Group’s £6.2bn (A$12.9bn) bid approach for Australia’s Origin Energy are ongoing, but have been inconclusive, the UK oil and gas giant said Friday.

The unsolicited A$14.70 a share cash offer for Australia’s second-biggest electricity and gas retailer, announced last week, represented a 40% premium to the previous day’s closing price.

In today’s statement, issued as a response to a request from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for more information, BG said it has received signed commitments from a syndicate of banks to fund the deal.

It has already been active in the region this year, having agreed in February to establish an alliance with Queensland Gas Company (QGC). The pair will develop onshore coal seam gas acreage and a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production and export facility on the Queensland coast. First exports of LNG are expected in 2013.

BG has paid £299m for a 20% stake in QGC’s coal seam gas assets in the Surat Basin and for a 9.9% stake in the company itself.

The firm also reported a forecast busting 78% hike in first quarter earnings to £767m last Wednesday, way ahead of the £685m predicted.

“BG Group has made an excellent start to the year driven by increased production volumes, higher commodity prices and strong first quarter performance in LNG,” said boss Frank Chapman.

“We made significant progress in our Asia Pacific strategy with a new LNG supply agreement in Singapore and the completion of our alliance with Queensland Gas Company in Australia.”

• News Channel