B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

Woodside would welcome Scarborough’s fare

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 14-Sep-16

Woodside Petroleum recently secured a deal to acquire 50 per cent of BHP Billiton’s stake in the Scarborough gas fields off the coast of Western Australia. There has been speculation that gas from Scarborough could potentially be processed at Woodside’s LNG plants, rather than using floating LNG technology. Woodside COO Michael Utsler says it is up to project operator ExxonMobil to broach the subject of options for processing Scarborough gas.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

LNG plants set for $20bn energy boom

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 12-Sep-16

LNG producers may commit to new projects in coming years in order to capitalise on the fact that the North West Shelf and Darwin LNG processing plants will soon have spare capacity. Wood Mackenzie expects the plants to have spare capacity by 2021, as production at these projects declines. Saul Kavonic of Wood Mackenzie says the Scarborough or Greater Gorgon gas fields could potentially yield low-cost LNG by using the North West Shelf infrastructure.

CORPORATES
WOOD MACKENZIE, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, DARWIN LNG PTY LTD, NORTH WEST SHELF LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, CONOCOPHILLIPS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, KAROON GAS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX KAR

APLNG to sell gas on local market

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 7-Sep-16

Surplus gas from the Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips-led Australia Pacific LNG project will be made available to domestic users rather than exported. APA Group will operate a 50km pipeline on behalf of APLNG that will be used to supply the eastern states with coal-seam gas that is surplus to export requirements. The Shell-owned Queensland Curtis LNG project also supplies surplus gas to the domestic market, as prices are higher than in the spot market.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, CONOCO (UK) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, APA GROUP – ASX APA, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Woodside floats into the Scarborough LNG debate

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 6-Sep-16

Woodside Petroleum will make an upfront payment of $US250m for half of BHP Billiton’s stake in the Scarborough LNG project in Western Australia. The deal includes a provision for the payment of an additional $US150m if the partners in the project – which also include ExxonMobil – make a final investment decision. The Scarborough project is being developed on the basis that it will use floating LNG technology, although this seems less likely with Woodside on board, given that it has onshore gas processing facilities in the state.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPLBHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHPEXXONMOBIL CORPORATIONCREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITEDMORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITEDALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTDCONOCOPHILLIPSAPACHE ENERGY LIMITEDOIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH

Origin Energy demerger chat emerges again

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 19-Aug-16

Australian-listed Origin Energy has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A589m, compared with a loss of $A658m previously. The result was marred by after-tax impairment charges of $A515m, and the diversified energy group’s underlying profit was 41 per cent lower at $A354m. Meanwhile, Origin reduced its net debt by $A4bn to $A9.1bn due to a capital raising in 2015 and asset sales. CEO Grant King says a demerger of its LNG and energy retailing businesses remains a possibility.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

Santos faces first loss in 20 years

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 17-Aug-16

Oil and gas producer Santos is poised to post a 2016 interim loss of nearly $US1bn, although opinion is divided regarding its underlying result. Macquarie Group anticipates an underlying profit of $US40m, but Citigroup and UBS have forecast a loss of $US80m and $US20m respectively. Santos’s total impairment charges over the last three years now exceed $US8bn, including the recent $US1.5bn pre-tax write-down of its stake in the Gladstone LNG project.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Santos clears the decks with $2bn write-off

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 16-Aug-16

Oil and gas producer Santos is tipped to post a 2015-16 loss of at least $US1bn, after revealing an additional $US1.5bn ($A1.96bn) write-down of the Gladstone LNG project. Santos had previously announced asset write-downs totalling $US3.9bn across its business in February. The Gladstone project will be able to produce about 7.8 million tonnes of LNG each year when it reaches full capacity, but Santos has advised that output will be capped at the 7.2 million tonnes that LNG customers have agreed to purchase.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

ATO drops boom on marketing hubs

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 10-Aug-16

The use of offshore marketing hubs by resources groups will attract greater scrutiny from the Australian Taxation Office. The proposed crackdown will result in such companies being subject to stricter auditing and disclosure requirements if they are not completely transparent about their marketing arrangements. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both use marketing hubs in Singapore, while the ATO is concerned that the oil and gas industry may pursue profit-shifting arrangements as LNG exports ramp up.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CHEVRON CORPORATION, CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BP PLC, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION

Beach ponders acquisition within next six months

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 29-Jul-16

Beach Energy has reported that the lower crude oil price resulted in its 2015-16 sales falling by 23.3 per cent, to $A558 million. Full-year production totalled 9.66 barrels of oil equivalent. The group posted sales revenue of $A16.6m for the June quarter, and production for the period rose by 13 per cent to 2.7 million. Beach has also advised that it expects capital expenditure to be within the range of $A180m to $A200m in 2016-17, while it aims to finalise an acquisition in the next six months.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, DRILLSEARCH ENERGY LIMITED, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Strong interest as Exxon sells off Bass Strait oilfields

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Jul-16

The daily output of the Bass Strait oilfields has fallen to 19,000 barrels, having peaked at more than 500,000 in the 1980s. ExxonMobil Australia chairman Richard Owen believes that the oilfields are likely to be most attractive to companies with expertise in extracting value from resources projects that are nearing the end of their production life. He says there has been good initial interest from potential buyers of the oilfields, which ExxonMobil operates in partnership with BHP Billiton.

CORPORATES
EXXONMOBIL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WOOD MACKENZIE, APACHE CORPORATION, FOSUN INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED