Bow Energy: Receives Initial Bid From PetroChina, Shell JV

Coal seam gas producer Bow Energy Ltd. (BOW.AU) said Monday it has received an initial takeover offer worth 520.5 million Australian dollars (US$540 million) from the Australian joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) and PetroChina Co. (PTR).

Brisbane-based Bow recommended shareholders take no action over the A$1.48-a-share conditional cash offer from Arrow Energy Holdings Pty Ltd., which Shell and PetroChina acquired a year ago.

A successful takeover of Bow would ease concerns that Shell and PetroChina have enough coal seam gas reserves to support their plans for an export facility at Gladstone in Queensland state producing an in initial 8 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas a year.

Shell and PetroChina, which last week awarded preliminary engineering and design contracts for the Gladstone plant, plan to double annual production capacity to 16 million tons of LNG at a later date.

-By David Winning, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]