Petronas paid over 3 times previous benchmark for stake in Santos
The Petronas-Santos deal values the Australian company's proven and probable reserves at $4.91 a gigajoule (GJ). Earlier this year, BG Group of the UK paid an average of $1.58 a GJ for a portion of Queensland Gas Ltd's upstream proven and probable reserves. "This is a new benchmark [price] for eastern Australian gas," said David Knox, the acting chief executive of Santos. After the transaction was announced, Santos shares surged 10 per cent, or $2.10, higher to $21.08.(http://business.smh.com.au/santos-sells-lng-stake-for-26b-20080529-2jj1.html) The question is : WHY? The answer is of course subject to the OSA, a breach of which can lead to being ISAed.