B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

BHP backs Scarborough project

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 25-Oct-18

Woodside Petroleum aims to commence development of the Scarborough gas field in 2020, after buying ExxonMobil’s stake earlier in 2018. Development of the project will boost the struggling petroleum division of BHP Billiton, Woodside’s partner in Scarborough. Steve Pastor, the head of BHP’s oil and gas operations, says the resources giant is upbeat about Scarborough, whose development had stalled under the joint ownership of ExxonMobil. BHP’s oil and gas production could fall to its lowest level in 20 years in 2018, following the sale of its US shale assets.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE GROUP INCORPORATED, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES

Woodside offers fix on Sunrise deadlock

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Oct-18

ConocoPhillips advised in late September that it had entered into an agreement to sell its stake in the Greater Sunrise venture to the Timor-Leste government for $US350 million. Woodside Petroleum and the other members of the venture have pre-emption rights over the stake, and Woodside CFO Sherry Duhe says a decision on whether to do so will be made soon. Timor-Leste is insisting that gas from Greater Sunrise is processed onshore, but Woodside CEO Peter Coleman has reaffirmed that an onshore plant would not meet its investment hurdles. He said a way around this dilemma would be for Woodside to only invest in the offshore part of the project. Woodside has reported a 25.4 per cent increase in sales for the September quarter.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CONOCOPHILLIPS, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, OSAKA GAS COMPANY, TOKYO GAS COMPANY LIMITED, KANSAI ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY INCORPORATED

Exxon coy on Bass drill test

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 16-Oct-18

ExxonMobil has advised that it is evaluating data from its Baldfish gas well in Bass Strait, but its lack of disclosure regarding the drilling program has prompted speculation about a large gas find. The gas well is located within the Dory prospect, which ExxonMobil acquired in 2017. Australian Industrial Energy has estimated that it could potentially cost at least $4bn and 10 years to develop the Dory field. AIE has advocated the construction of an LNG import terminal.

CORPORATES
EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL ENERGY PTY LTD, LIBERTY PETROLEUM, APACHE ENERGY LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Low CSG quality may hit export contracts

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 12-Oct-18

Australia Pacific LNG CEO Warwick King has told an energy conference that extracting gas from Queensland’s coal seam gas fields is proving to be more difficult than expected. There has been growing concern among industry analysts that the CSG reserves that have underpinned Queensland’s LNG export projects may not able to be extracted economically. Approval for the Gladstone plants was based on proven and probable reserves, whereas LNG export plants in Western Australia were approved on the basis of proven reserves.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL ENERGY, SENEX ENERGY LIMITED – ASX SXY, JEMENA LIMITED

Queensland gas drilling at record levels

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: Online : 5-Oct-18

EnergyEdge has reported that 193 gas wells were drilled in Queensland in the June quarter, while daily gas production exceeded 4,000 terajoules for the first time on 15 September, when 4,019 terajoules were produced. Daily gas production had exceeded 1,000 terajoules for the first time in December 2014. Meanwhile, LNG exports from Queensland for August came in at a seven month high of 1.76 million tonnes, the third highest monthly total on record.

CORPORATES
ENERGY EDGE, SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG

Australia likely to be fringe player in next LNG boom

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 4-Oct-18

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden expects global demand for LNG to double by 2035. Shell has positioned itself to be a key player in the next LNG boom after making a final investment decision on its $C40bn ($43bn) LNG Canada project. Wood Mackenzie estimates that LNG projects with an annual production capacity of 50-60 million tonnes will receive final approval in 2019. However, Australia is not expected to play a major role in the new LNG boom, as only the Prelude and Ichthys projects are currently being developed.

CORPORATES
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, WOOD MACKENZIE, INPEX CORPORATION, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH

Woodside may back Timor gas export plant

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 22 : 3-Oct-18

ConocoPhillips’ deal to sell its 30 per cent stake in the Sunrise gas field to the Timor-Leste government may prompt Woodside Petroleum to resume negotiations over development of the Timor Sea resource. There is speculation that Woodside may be more open to processing gas at a greenfields plant on Timor-Leste in the wake of ConocoPhillips’ move. Woodside has a 33 per cent stake in Sunrise and it is the operator of the project.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CONOCOPHILLIPS, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, OSAKA GAS COMPANY, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOOD MACKENZIE, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Beach Energy shares soar on growth plans

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 28-Sep-18

Beach Energy currently produces 26-28 million barrels of oil equivalent each year, but it has outlined plans to increase this to 34-40 million boe by 2022-23. The company will also seek to lift its free cash flow to $2.3bn within five years. The Lattice Energy assets, which Beach bought from Origin Energy for $1.59bn in 2017, will be a major growth driver. Beach took on $US1.58bn worth of debt to finance the acquisition, but CEO Matt Kay expects the company to be almost debt-free by the end of 2019-20.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, LATTICE ENERGY LIMITED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, NEW ZEALAND OIL AND GAS LIMITED, OMV AG, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Santos planning to double gas output by 2025 thanks to Quadrant buy

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 27-Sep-18

Oil and gas major Santos has forecast that its annual production could top 100 million barrels of oil equivalent by 2025. The proposed acquisition of Quadrant Energy and its Dorado oil find will be the main driver of growth in output. Santos has also told analysts that production in the Cooper Basin could rise by around 20 per cent by 2025, while MD Kevin Gallagher says the Narrabri coal seam gas project could further boost the company’s output if it receives government approval.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

China looks to Australian gas in trade war

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 & 27 : 26-Sep-18

Wang Shouwen, China’s vice-minister of commerce, has signalled that the nation could increase its LNG imports from Australia as a result of the trade war with the US. China retaliated to the Trump administration’s latest round of tariff hikes by imposing a tariff of 10 per cent on US LNG imports, and this could rise to 25 per cent. The tariff on US LNG will give Australian producers a price advantage, and could ensure that new LNG projects in Australia and Papua New Guinea proceed.

CORPORATES
CHINA. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CHEVRON CORPORATION, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT