Exxon's PNG InterOil plan has hit some hurdles
The company's bid comes unstuck over undervalued gas reserves
ExxonMobil is running into new hurdles as it tries to buy Papua New Guinea (PNG)-based gas explorer InterOil. The move would give it a dominant role in one of Asia-Pacific's most competitively priced sources of liquefied natural gas. Despite implicit endorsement from the PNG government and after trumping rival takeover efforts by Woodside Energy and Oil Search, Exxon's move is being thwarted by InterOil's founder and third-largest shareholder, Phil Mulacek, who says the bids still significantly undervalue the target's hydrocarbon assets. Exxon launched an $2.5bn unsolicited scrip-based bid - a bid offering shares instead of cash - for InterOil in mid-2016 but raised this to around $3.9bn in
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
