B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

Moody’s may cut Woodside, Origin ratings

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Original article by Brian Robins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 25-Jan-16

Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has scaled back its Brent crude oil price assumptions by $US10 per barrel in both 2016 and 2017, to $US33 and $US38 respectively. The firm notes that there is a risk of a further downturn in the crude oil price. Meanwhile, Moody’s has indicated that it expects to complete a review of the credit ratings of Origin Energy and Woodside Petroleum by the end of March, which could potentially result in downgrades.

CORPORATES
MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SCHLUMBERGER LIMITED

Woodside takes $1.7bn hit as oil prices slump

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 : 22-Jan-16

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum has reported revenue of $US1.105bn for the December 2015 quarter, which is 37 per cent lower than the same period in 2014. Revenue for the full year also fell by 37 per cent to $US4.5bn, due to the downturn in the crude oil price. Woodside has advised that its full-year accounts will be marred by asset write-downs of up to $US1bn ($A1.2bn). Its shares closed $A0.39 lower at $A25 on 21 January 2016.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, APACHE CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

More oil, gas write-downs set to follow BHP’s lead

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 18-Jan-16

The downturn in the crude oil price prompted a number of Australian-listed energy groups to announce write-downs in 2015. The price of Brent crude oil closed at $US28.94 per barrel on 15 January 2016, coinciding with BHP Billiton’s announcement that its 2015-16 interim results are likely to include a $US7.2bn impairment charge on its oil and gas assets. Mark Busuttil of JP Morgan has forecast that Santos could announce a pre-tax write-off of about $A2bn.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, SENEX ENERGY LIMITED – ASX SXY, AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, DRILLSEARCH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX DLS, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, BLOOMBERG LP, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, BG GROUP PLC, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED

Oil crash sinks $545bn in projects

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Jan-16

Data from Wood Mackenzie shows that the downturn in the crude oil price has prompted some $US380bn ($A545bn) worth of new oil and gas projects to be put on hold. Tom Ellacott of Wood Mackenzie expects this trend to continue. The oil price is trading at around $US30 per barrel, and the continued price weakness put further downward pressure on the share prices of Australian oil and gas producers on 14 January 2016.

CORPORATES
WOOD MACKENZIE,{SPAC}SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO,{SPAC}ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG,{SPAC}WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL,{SPAC}OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH

Origin ships first LNG from Gladstone

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 12-Jan-16

Bulk cargo carrier "Methane Spirit" has left Gladstone with the first shipment from Origin Energy’s Australia Pacific LNG project in Queensland. The first shipment had been slated for late December 2015, but the tanker eventually left Curtis Island on 9 January 2016. The majority of gas from the $A24.7bn project has been bought by Sinopec, while other customers include Kansai Electric. APLNG was the last of the three Gladstone LNG projects to commence production.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, KANSAI ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY INCORPORATED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, BG GROUP PLC, BECHTEL INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, CONOCOPHILLIPS

Oil M&A tipped to ramp up in 2016 after quiet past year

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 8-Jan-16

IHS forecasts an upturn in mergers and acquisitions activity in the global oil and gas industry in 2016. The global consultancy notes that the total value of such transaction was $US143bn in 2015, which is 22 per cent lower than previously, while there was a significant fall in the number of transactions worth more than $US1bn. Ben Wilson of RBC Capital Markets expects M&A activity to be particularly strong in Australia during 2016.

CORPORATES
IHS INCORPORATED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, DRILLSEARCH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX DLS, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BG GROUP PLC, SCEPTER PARTNERS, INTEROIL CORPORATION, BERNSTEIN AND ASSOCIATES, APACHE CORPORATION, BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED

Origin finally nears first APLNG shipment

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 8-Jan-16

Bulk cargo carrier "Methane Spirit" will shortly leave the Port of Gladstone with the first shipment from Origin Energy’s Australia Pacific LNG project on Curtis Island in Queensland. Origin has pushed back the deadline for commencing exports from the $A24.7bn project several times. The first shipment was originally slated for mid-2015, but production did not start until December and Origin subsequently advised that exports would begin by the end of 2015.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, CONOCOPHILLIPS, GLADSTONE PORTS CORPORATION LIMITED, SINOPEC CORPORATION, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, BG GROUP PLC

Green light for Origin gas venture

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 6-Jan-16

Origin Energy and AWE Limited will proceed with the first stage of the Waitsia gas project in Western Australia. The joint venture partners will invest $A17.5m in the first stage of the Perth Basin project, after Alinta Energy secured a deal to buy 10 terajoules of gas per day over 2.5 years. The project will initially have a daily production capacity of 10 terajoules, although this could eventually be lifted to around 100 terajoules a day.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CITIC PACIFIC, WOOD MACKENZIE, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Chevron slashes 1200 jobs from Gorgon project

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Original article by Andrew Burrell, Rebecca Puddy
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Dec-15

Chevron and its contractors are reducing the workforce at the Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia, with more job cuts expected as the construction phase of the project winds down. About 1,200 jobs have been cut at the Gorgon gas plant on Barrow Island in recent weeks, while Chevron is also believed to have downsized the workforce at its Australian head office in Perth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the state economy shed about 10,000 jobs in November 2015.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, GORGON PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, ACIL TASMAN PTY LTD, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, CHICAGO BRIDGE AND IRON COMPANY NV, KENTZ (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Woodside cuts spending, lifts production guidance

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 18-Dec-15

Woodside Petroleum has advised that its total production for 2015 will be within the range of 91 million to 93 million barrels of oil equivalent. Its previous forecast was 88 million to 93 million boe. The oil and gas group has also indicated that capital expenditure for the calendar year will be $US100m lower than previously forecast, and its exploration budget has been cut by $US70m. Woodside’s shares closed 0.85 per cent lower at $A26.82 on 17 December.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, APACHE ENERGY LIMITED, CHEVRON CORPORATION