B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

Big Oil Search investors baulk at $21b merger

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 1-Dec-21

Oil Search shareholders will vote on the proposed $21bn merger with Santos on 7 December, and proxy votes are likely to determine whether the deal proceeds. The four major proxy advisers have backed the deal, albeit with some qualifications regarding valuation. Several large institutional shareholders in Oil Search have indicated that they will vote against the deal. However, investors with shares in both Oil Search and Santos are said to be largely supportive of the merger.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Oil Search gets proxy nod for merger

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 16 : 25-Nov-21

Some 75 per cent of Oil Search’s investors will need to approve the proposed merger with Santos for the $21bn deal to proceed. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that shareholders endorse the all-scrip offer, citing factors such as the 16.8 per cent premium over Oil Search’s share price, the pre-tax synergies and the absence of a superior offer. Wilson Asset Management also supports the merger, although Allan Gray Australia opposes it. Oil Search shareholders will vote on the deal on 7 December.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Woodside seals oil, gas mega-deals

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 19 : 23-Nov-21

Woodside Petroleum will become one of the world’s 10 biggest oil and gas producers after it finalised a deal to merge with BHP’s petroleum division. The announcement of a binding merger deal has coincided with the long-awaited final investment decision on the $16.5bn Scarborough LNG project. Woodside will control 52 per cent of the enlarged company, in line with the original terms of the merger deal that were released in August. The merger will expand the scope of Woodside’s operations to include Australia, the US, Africa and the Caribbean.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Oil Search sued for bullying CFO from job

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Original article by Jemima Whyte,Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 17-Nov-21

Oil Search has advised that it will fully defend itself against allegations that its incoming CFO had been forced to resign due to bullying and harassment. Ayten Saridas joined Oil Search in August 2020 and was to succeed incumbent CFO Stephen Gardiner in 2021. However, she resigned after just four months and the oil and gas group, claiming that she had been subjected to bullying and harassment by both Gardiner and former CEO Keiran Wulff. The latter subsequently resigned in July; Oil Search attributed this to health reasons but said there had been several complaints about his conduct.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH

Downgrades fuel Scarborough doubts

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 11-Nov-21

Woodside Petroleum’s proposed $16bn Scarborough LNG project is under renewed scrutiny in the wake of the oil and gas group’s recent downgrading of the reserves at its Wheatstone and Pluto gas fields. Woodside is slated to make a final investment decision on Scarborough by the end of 2021, and some analysts have scaled back their gas reserve estimates for Scarborough in the wake of the Wheatstone and Pluto downgrades. There may also be implications for the valuation of Woodside if its proposed merger with BHP’s petroleum division proceeds.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Santos green-lights Moomba carbon storage

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 2-Nov-21

Santos has made a final investment decision to proceed with the Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia. MD Kevin Gallagher says the project will permanently store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, at a projected cost of about $US24 per tonne. Gallagher and federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor will make a formal announcement on the project at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Beach Energy has a one-third stake in the project.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Origin pockets $2b for clean energy plans

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 26-Oct-21

Origin Energy has reduced its stake in the Australia Pacific LNG project to 27.5 per cent after striking a $2.12bn deal with EIG Global Energy Partners. The private equity group will acquire a 10 per cent stake in the project; EIG CEO R. Blair Thomas says the deal reflects the importance of LNG as a "critical enabler" of the transition to clean energy. Origin Energy has signalled that some of the expected net proceeds of $2bn from the deal may be reinvested in clean energy and storage projects, in addition to reducing debt.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS

Court rejects Narrabri gas challenge

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 19-Oct-21

A community action group has failed in its bid to overturn the Independent Planning Commission’s recent decision to grant environmental approval for the Narrabri coal seam gas project in New South Wales. The legal challenge has been rejected by the state’s Land & Environment Court, although anti-gas activists have vowed to continue the fight against the Santos project. The latest legal challenge to the controversial project is likely to further delay a final investment decision, which is now expected to be made in 2024.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT PLANNING COMMISSION, NEW SOUTH WALES. LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT

Beach Energy in LNG deal with BP Singapore

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 28-Sep-21

Beach Energy will become Australia’s biggest LNG exporter after securing a five-year deal to supply 3.75 million tonnes of gas from its Waitsia project to BP’s Singapore unit. The deal will account for the entire expected output from the second stage of the onshore project in Western Australia. The spot price of LNG in Asia has surged in recent months, and Beach MD Matt Kay says the company had held back on selling its gas early in the COVID-19 pandemic as prices fell. Gas from Waitsia will be processed via the North West Shelf LNG plant.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, BP SINGAPORE PTE LTD, BP PLC

Woodside investors cautious on deal

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 16 : 19-Aug-21

Allan Gray Australia MD Simon Mawhinney says there are a lot of "unknowns" with regard to Woodside Petroleum’s proposed deal to merge with the petroleum division of BHP. He says the biggest question is just what Woodside investors will gain in return for giving BHP shareholders a 48 per cent stake in the oil and gas producer. Meanwhile, Woodside has posted an underlying net profit after tax of $US354m for the first half of 2021, and revenue of $US2.5bn.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD