Climate change, with its growing pressures for companies, is driving an ever faster restructuring of the oil industry.

In Australia, the natural resource giant BHP and Shell partner Woodside Petroleum confirmed on Monday afternoon that they were negotiating a major transaction.

At the same time, Saudi Aramco is talking to the largest Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industry of the multi-billionaire Mukesh Ambani, about entering its oil and chemical business.

The Arabs wanted to take over around 20 percent of the group unit for an estimated 20 to 25 billion dollars, according to the market.

Santos and the Australian Oil Search have just reached an agreement on their takeover for 8.2 billion Australian dollars (5.12 billion euros).

Since the beginning of the year, the price of crude oil has risen by around 35 percent to almost $ 70 per barrel.

Christoph Hein

Business correspondent for South Asia / Pacific based in Singapore.

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By handing over its entire oil and gas business, BHP would say goodbye to liquid fossil fuels and thereby dramatically improve its carbon footprint.

The Australian oil company Woodside would gain significantly deeper market access in its core business, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad and Australia.

Bank JP Morgan estimates the value of BHP's oil and gas business at around $ 18 billion.

If acquired, Woodside would be the largest Australian oil and gas company with a market capitalization of an estimated 40 billion Australian dollars and one of the largest liquefied natural gas producers in the world, with deposits in very risk-free production areas.

"Attractive returns"?

The transaction is being negotiated by two women: Geraldine Slattery, who heads BHP's global oil business from Houston, America, flew to Perth in Western Australia, which is actually closed to all entry, at the weekend, it is said.

There she speaks to Meg O'Neill, who is Woodside's interim director.

Slattery had been traded in the market as one of the candidates for the role of CEO of Woodside after CEO Peter Coleman resigned.

Analysts welcomed the project on Monday afternoon, also because it gave Santos further access to the North West Shelf and Scarborough gas fields off the coast of Western Australia.

From here, not only Australia, but also East Asia, is supplied with liquid gas.

After the sale of the steam coal business, the new CEO of BHP, Mike Henry, would come closer to his own goal of reducing the fossil share of his production. At the end of 2019, Slattery had raved about "attractive returns" in oil and gas over many years in front of investors. However, the market speculates that after the sale to Woodside, BHP will hold a stake of around 20 percent in the Western Australian oil company - and would thus still be in the oil business, albeit only as a financial stake.

In a statement from BHP it is said that the group is examining various ways, one of which is the sale of shares to Woodside.

The share of the group from Perth in western Australia fell in value by almost 4 percent on the month in Sydney.

BHP's paper, which was hovering around its record level before the balance sheet was presented on Tuesday, lost just under 0.3 percent.

Woodside will release its half-year results on Wednesday.

Indians and Saudis in talks

In India, Reliance shares gained around 2.6 percent on Monday.

Here, too, the Saudis' entry should be paid for with shares, it is said.

Based on the market capitalization of the world's largest oil company of around $ 1.9 trillion, Reliance could secure a stake of around one percent.

A more secure supply of oil for the Indian refineries appears to be more important.

In June, Ambani had appointed the Chairman of the Aramco Board of Directors, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, to its own supervisory body.

Both companies have already announced that they are looking into mutual participation.

The negotiations should be concluded this year.

Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman said in April that Aramco was in talks to sell one percent to a “leading energy company in the world”.

He didn't give a name.

The Saudi government had previously listed a 2 percent stake in Aramco for around $ 30 billion.

With around 60,000 barrels a year, the Arabs sell around a tenth of their total exports to India. The Saudis' goal is to increase their own refining capacity and thus achieve larger margins in a volatile oil business. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday that he wanted to significantly reduce the enormous import of fossil fuels over the next 25 years and build a hydrogen economy in India.