SYDNEY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Australia's antitrust regulatorsaid on Monday it was reviewing a proposal by top energyretailer Origin Energy to buy out BP Plc's stakein the Bulwer Island gas terminal they jointly own in Brisbane.
In a statement on its website, the Australian Competitionand Consumer Commission said it would rule on the proposal onMarch 19. Origin, which already has a 50 percent stake in theBulwer Island facility, declined comment.
Origin has been expanding into export-oriented businesses,such as oil and gas exploration, to offset declining domesticretail demand for energy.
BP and other refineries owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp and Caltex Australia Ltd, have meanwhile been scaling down their operations inAustralia as they struggle against strong competition in Asia,falling oil prices and high costs.
BP said last year it would stop production at Bulwer Islandby mid-2015 as it restructures its struggling refining andmarketing business in Australia.
Shell also said last year that it was exiting refining andmarketing in Australia, selling the business for around $2.6billion to global oil trader Vitol SA. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
