B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

Oil Search buries ego and drops InterOil bid

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 22-Jul-16

Oil Search will not seek to match ExxonMobil’s takeover bid for InterOil. MD Peter Botten says it would not be in shareholders’ interest to increase the offer, and he adds that they will still gain most of the benefits of the deal with none of the associated risks. Oil Search has stakes in both of the two major LNG projects in Papua New Guinea, and Botten says greater co-operation between the two ventures will generate value for investors. Meanwhile, Oil Search has reported that its sales fell by seven per cent in the June 2016 quarter, to $US267.7m.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, INTEROIL CORPORATION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, TOTAL SA, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED

Exxon tops Oil Search with bid for InterOil

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 19-Jul-16

Australian-listed Oil Search is not expected to exercise its right to match ExxonMobil’s $US2.48bn ($A3.26bn) takeover bid for InterOil. It has three days to match the bid. having made its own $US2.2bn ($A2.9bn) offer for InterOil in May. Some analysts suggest that the ExxonMobil deal would benefit all parties with exposure to the Papua New Guinea LNG sector, including Oil Search. Shareholders of InterOil were slated to vote on the Oil Search offer in late July.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, INTEROIL CORPORATION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, TOTAL SA, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Oil Search could be crushed in InterOil battle

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-Jul-16

Proxy adviser ISS has endorsed Oil Search’s $US2.2bn takeover bid for InterOil, with the target’s shareholders scheduled to vote on the deal on 26 July 2016. However, ExxonMobil is believed to be poised to outbid Oil Search with an offer that is about 10 per cent higher. ExxonMobil – which is Oil Search’s partner in the Papua New Guinea LNG project – has not been officially confirmed as the rival suitor for InterOil.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, INTEROIL CORPORATION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, TOTAL SA, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED

Woodside signs $560m African deal

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 15-Jul-16

Australian-listed Woodside Petroleum will acquire ConocoPhillips’ stake in exploration acreage off the coast of Senegal for $US430m ($A563.4m). The deal includes ConocoPhillips’ 35 per cent stake in the SNE and FAN deepwater oil discoveries. Woodside has estimated that the SNE discovery could potentially yield about 560 million barrels of oil. The listed FAR is a partner in the Senegal joint venture, which is operated by UK-based Cairn Energy.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CONOCOPHILLIPS, FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, CAIRN ENERGY PLC, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Bleak credit outlook rating for oil and gas this quarter

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 14-Jul-16

Brent crude oil was trading at around $US48 per barrel on 13 July 2016, but ratings agency Standard & Poor’s still expects it to average $US40 for the remainder of the calendar year. Meanwhile, Lawrence Hu of S&P has identified the potential for a sustained oversupply of oil as the biggest risk for oil and gas companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Both S&P and Moody’s expect the oil price to average $US45 in 2017.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

LNG exports jump despite Gorgon woes

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 13-Jul-16

New data shows that Australia’s LNG exports were 18.5 per cent higher in June 2016 than in May. The data from EnergyQuest also show that LNG production rose by more than 500,000 tonnes to 3.6 million tonnes. There were a total of 44 shipments in June, although there were no shipments from the Gorgon project due to problems with the first production train. Western Australia accounted for 27 shipments, while 22 LNG consignments departed from Queensland.

CORPORATES
ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, CHEVRON CORPORATION, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED

Oil Search sweetener needed for InterOil

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 12-Jul-16

ExxonMobil is believed to be the unnamed company that is seeking to trump Oil Search’s $US2.2bn ($A2.9bn) takeover bid for InterOil. The target has commenced negotiations with the as-yet identified suitor, which made an initial approach in late June 2016, and is understood to have made a scrip-based offer that is 10 per cent higher than the Oil Search bid. All three players have exposure to Papua New Guinea’s LNG sector.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, INTEROIL CORPORATION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, TOTAL SA

BHP has high hopes for Trinidad oil prospects

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 29-Jun-16

BHP Billiton is optimistic that an oil well drilling program in Trinidad will yield positive results. The resources group is drilling three well in the region, with plans for another five wells later on. The Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Beagle Sub-basin off the coast of Western Australia are the focus of BHP’s oil exploration activities for the next several years. The petroleum division will account for the bulk of BHP’s exploration budget for 2016.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

BHP gets shale oil wells ready after price rises

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 21 : 23-Jun-16

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie has indicated that the group will commence production at some of its drilled but uncompleted shale oil wells in the US, following an upturn in the crude oil price. It is now trading at around $US50 per barrel, having reached a low of $US26 a barrel in February 2016. Mackenzie has also reiterated that BHP’s preference is to pursue growth via its existing assets rather than acquisitions.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

LNG price pain is still to come

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Jun-16

Oversupply in the LNG Asian market could force some of Australia’s LNG producers to reduce capacity. Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman of consultancy FGE, says prices will be under pressure. The price of LNG in north Asia has declined to about $US4.50 per million British thermal units from about $US20 in early 2014, and further declines are likely.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, FGE