B07 Oil and Gas Extraction

$200b LNG plants not profitable

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 7-Sep-15

The International Energy Agency has questioned the viability of major Australian LNG projects, warning that they may not break even due to factors such as the downturn in the crude oil price and falling demand from Asia. The agency also believes that the proposed Browse, Sunrise and Scarborough projects may not go ahead. Energy forecaster Fereidun Fesharaki also has doubts about the profitability of Australian LNG projects.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT CHEVRON CORPORATION INPEX CORPORATION SINOPEC CORPORATION ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED CONTACT ENERGY LIMITED

Woodside aims to pounce on ‘crown jewels’

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 20-Aug-15

Low commodity prices may eventually force stressed companies to put their "crown jewels" on the market, at which time Woodside Petroleum will be ready to pounce, says CEO Peter Coleman. Meanwhile, he will not risk precious cash on lower quality assets. Despite reporting a 39 per cent drop in first half profits due to the collapse in oil and LNG prices, Woodside has little debt, making it well placed to take advantage of takeover opportunities.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, APACHE CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION

Oil sector profits to be dented as early recovery hopes fade

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13/18 : 17-Aug-15

Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Origin Energy will continue to be under pressure to cut costs as the oil price is expected to remain low. The US benchmark crude has fallen to $US42.50 a barrel which is its lowest level since early 2009. The International Energy Agency believes oil markets will remain oversupplied until late 2016 or early 2017.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

ATO eyes Gorgon’s tax-free profits

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1&8 : 17-Aug-15

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is investigating tax arrangements of the companies involved in the Gorgon natural gas project. The ATO is concerned that the interest on loans provided by Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell to their Australian arms is more than 10 times higher than the interest rate charged by third-party lenders in the US. The matter is also being investigated by the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, chaired by Senator Sam Dastyari, which will file an interim report in Parliament on 17 August 2015.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, CHEVRON CORPORATION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, CONSOLIDATED PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Gorgon’s first LNG cargo faces delay

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 3-Aug-15

US-based Chevron has advised that the Gorgon LNG project may not commence shipments until early 2016. Production was initially slated to begin in the September 2014 quarter, but this was subsequently pushed back to late 2015 due to delays and a cost blowout. Chevron executive Jay Johnson says unforeseeable events such as inclement weather could further delay the $US54bn project, which also faces the threat of strike action over enterprise agreement negotiations.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, CB&I INCORPORATED

Strike threat poses new risk to $73b Gorgon gas project

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Jul-15

The Fair Work Commission has given the green light for unions to hold a ballot of Gorgon LNG workers, prompting concerns that strike action will lead to further delays in completing the $US54bn ($A73bn) project. The protected ballot of CB&I employees follows the failure of negotiations over a new enterprise agreement. Chevron anticipates that exports from the Gorgon venture will commence by the end of 2015.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CB&I INCORPORATED, CHEVRON CORPORATION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

LNG price pain to be laid bare

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 14-Jul-15

Nik Burns of UBS expects Woodside Petroleum’s revenue for the June 2015 quarter to be 36 per cent lower than the March quarter. Meanwhile, revenue at Oil Search is tipped to be 35 per cent lower, as the downturn in the crude oil price begins to impact on LNG producers. Meanwhile, Adrian Prendergast of Morgans Financial expects Woodside’s dividend yield to fall from seven per cent to 3.2 per cent.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, APACHE CORPORATION, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, PLATTS

Weak gas prices trigger AGL shift

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 7-Jul-15

AGL Energy will not proceed with the Hunter coal-seam gas project in New South Wales or the expansion of its Camden project. However, AGL will press ahead with its Gloucester coal-seam project, despite a $A275m impairment charge that has reduced the value of the project to $A131m. AGL has revealed total writedowns in excess of $A600m after a review of its gas assets. AGL plans to sell some oil and gas assets, and it will no longer aim to derive 50 per cent of the gas supplied to customers from its own resources.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ESSO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Woodside’s FLNG venture design begins

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 2-Jul-15

Australian-listed Woodside Petroleum and its partners in the Browse floating LNG project will commence front-end engineering and design work. Woodside still hopes a final decision on the project will be made in the second half of 2016, although Citigroup recently forecast that a decision will be delayed until mid-2017. Woodside will hold a 30.6 per cent stake in the Browse project, which has not secured any customers.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Flagging energy in LNG sector tipped to last until 2022-23

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 1-Jul-15

Citigroup is bearish about the outlook for the LNG industry, forecasting that a global oversupply will be sustained until at least 2022. The firm also expects growth in spot and contract prices for LNG to remain subdued in the long-term. Meanwhile, it anticipates that a number of projects in the sector will be delayed, including the Woodside Petroleum-led Browse floating LNG venture and ExxonMobil’s Papua New Guinea project.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION