Carnarvon Energy has secured the necessary approvals to sell a 10% stake in Bedout assets to OPIC Australia, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s national petroleum company, CPC.

The WA-64-L production licence, which includes the Dorado field managed by Santos, and the WA-435-P, WA-436-P, WA-437-P and WA-438-P exploration permits, are among the Bedout assets included in the deal.

Carnarvon expects the transaction, which was announced earlier this year, to close before the end of August 2023.

It will receive a $146m (A$214.6m) total cash payment under the terms of the arrangement.

This includes an upfront payment of $56m after the deal and $90m of Carnarvon's forward expenditure in the permits following the announcement of the Dorado development's final investment decision (FID).

The funds from the divestiture will be used to pay for Carnarvon's part of the Dorado development expenditures as well as additional activities such as research in the Bedout Sub-basin and the evaluation of the Pavo discovery.

Carnarvon managing director and CEO Adrian Cook said: “Following completion, Carnarvon will hold substantial cash and financial liquidity, enabling it to de-risk funding for the Dorado development in conjunction with prospective debt financing, which has received a strong level of market interest so far.

“The CPC transaction is an outstanding result for the company, and I would like to thank the Carnarvon team for their hard work in finalising the deal over the past 12 months. I look forward to CPC formally joining the joint venture upon completion and working with Carnarvon, and Santos, on progressing the Dorado development to FID as soon as possible.”