B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

Watchdog threatens critical Browse

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 18 : 7-Aug-24

Woodside Energy’s CEO Meg O’Neill has emphasised the importance of the company’s Browse LNG project. She contends that Browse is the only gas field of sufficient size to meet the forecast demand for energy over the near-term. The Browse project’s future is under scrutiny following a preliminary ruling from Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority that it presents a "unacceptable risk" to marine ecology. The EPA is expected to make a final recommendation on the project in 2025, although it can be overruled by the federal government. O’Neill has also defended Woodside’s deal to acquire a low-carbon ammonia project in the US.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY

EPA blocks Woodside gas project

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Original article by Ben Potter, Tom Rabe, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 6-Aug-24

Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority has advised that it expects to release its final determination on Woodside Energy’s Browse LNG project in 2025. However, the EPA has concluded in its preliminary decision that the project’s environmental risks are "unacceptable". It is particularly concerned about the project’s impact on pygmy blue whales and green turtle nesting sites, as well as the risk of oil spills near Scott Reef, which is off the coast of Broome. WA Premier Roger Cook says his government wants Browse to proceed, arguing that it will boost the state’s gas supply and help Asian countries to decarbonise.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Woodside swoops with US gas deal

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 23-Jul-24

Woodside Energy will increase its presence in the US after securing a $US1.2bn ($1.79bn) deal to acquire Tellurian, which is developing an LNG export terminal in Louisiana. Tellurian’s Driftwood terminal is expected to have annual export capacity of about 27.6 million tonnes, which is significantly higher than Woodside’s annual production in Australia. Woodside expects to make a final investment decision on the Driftwood project by the end of 2025, and says the facility could be operational before the end of this decade. Tellurian is said to have invested more than $US1bn in the project to date.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, TELLURIAN INCORPORATED

Rinehart-backed Senex gas project gets go-ahead

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 26-Jun-24

Senex Energy has belatedly received federal environmental approval for its Atlas gas project in Queensland. Senex had commenced the environmental approvals process nearly two years ago, and CEO Ian Davies stated earlier in 2024 that the ‘legislative bureaucracy’-induce delays had increased the cost of the project by more than $150m. Approval for the project has coincided with warnings from the Australian Energy Market Operator that the east coast may run out of gas. Senex is owned by Posco and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

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SENEX ENERGY LIMITED, POSCO, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Australia’s LNG shipments slump for the first time in years

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Original article by Nick Toscano
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 8-Mar-24

Figures from energy consultancy EnergyQuest show that Australian liquefied gas exports declined to 80.7 million tonnes in 2023, following a record-breaking year in 2022 when 81.2 million tonnes was shipped. It represents the first year-on-year decline since 2015, and with existing oil and gas fields drying up and limited investment in new fields, it is likely that Australia’s LNG production has peaked. Although Australia still earns tens of billions a year from LNG exports, its role as a key source of greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say need to be reduced in order to combat the worst impacts of global warming has seen the LNG industry become a major cause of environmental concern.

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ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD

Santos gets green light on $5bn project

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 16-Jan-24

The Federal Court’s Justice Natalie Charlesworth has ruled that Santos will not need to revise its environmental plan for the $5.3bn Barossa LNG project in the Timor Sea. Justice Charlesworth ordered Santos to temporarily stop work on a 262km pipeline in late 2023, pending a final ruling on Tiwi Islanders’ legal challenge to the Barossa project; Justice Charlesworth on Monday said she was not convinced that the pipeline would cause irreparable harm to the cultural heritag of the traditional owners. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher says the company will shortly resume its drilling program, adding that the court ruling will have broad economic benefits.

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SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

LNG party to end this year as glut looms

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 12 : 9-Jan-24

Bernstein Research has forecast that a looming increase in global LNG supply could potentially see prices fall by up to 47 per cent by 2027. The firm notes that global supply is set to increase by about 140 million tonnes by the end of 2024, and this is set to be sustained for the next three years. Neil Beveridge of Bernstein says the global LNG market is reaching a ‘turning point’, and it will revert from being net short to net long in the next several years. Australia exported a record $92.2bn worth of LNG in 2022-23, but expectations of lower export volumes and prices would have a significant impact on future government revenue.

CORPORATES
BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT

Big gas producers accused of predatory pricing

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Original article by Simon Johanson
The Age – Page: Online : 22-Sep-23

Energy Users Association of Australia CEO Andrew Richards has told a Senate inquiry into a new mandatory code of conduct for the gas industry that some of the sector’s behaviour can only be described as predatory. With the Association representing large commercial energy users, Richards told the inquiry that the code is essential to protecting businesses and households from what he contends is the gas industry’s unfair market power. The code currently covers gas producers selling into the wholesale market, but the inquiry was told it should be extended to cover gas retailers as well.

CORPORATES
ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Policy doubt could derail domestic gas projects, Beach Energy warns

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Jul-23

A mandatory code of conduct governing the gas sector was released in the week ending 14 July, with the code coming after ongoing friction between gas producers and the federal government over proposals aimed at curbing rising energy prices. The code sees the extension of a $12-a-gigajoule cap on domestic gas sales until 2025, but exempts smaller producers who sell all their gas locally domestically rather than export it offshore as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Beach Energy has confirmed it qualifies as a small producer under the code, but it has expressed concern that ongoing market interventions and regulatory burdens could discourage investments in new gas supply projects.

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BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT

Woodside faces climate protest vote

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Original article by Giuseppe Tauriello
The Australian – Page: 15 & 18 : 15-Mar-23

Woodside Energy’s climate strategy will come under scrutiny again at its AGM on 28 April. Some 49 per cent of shareholders had voted against the oil and gas group’s climate report at its 2022 AGM. Climate activists contend that Woodside’s latest climate plan fails to address concerns that were raised in 2022. Meanwhile, Vision Super and Betashares have joined with the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility in calling for shareholders to vote against the re-election of Ian Macfarlane, Swee Chen Goh and Larry Archibald to Woodside’s board. They contend that the three directors should be held to account for the board’s repeated failure to present a credible climate strategy.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, VISION SUPER PTY LTD, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY