BG Group sells Australian pipeline for $5bn

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30409227

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UK gas giant BG Group has sold its Australian gas pipeline network to APA Group for $5bn (£3.2bn).

The 543km pipeline links BG gas fields in Queensland to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Gladstone on Australia's east coast.

BG Group said the sale of its Australian subsidiary was conditional on the start of LNG deliveries from Gladstone.

The firm expects to make a post-tax profit of $2.7bn on the deal.

"The sale of the QCLNG pipeline is in line with our strategy to focus on BG Group's core areas of oil and gas exploration and production and LNG," said BG Group interim executive chairman Andrew Gould.

BG Group said it was reviewing its gas flow rates, long-term price assumptions and business plans in the light of movements in oil prices, which have slumped in recent months.

The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015.