ENERGY INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

Producers fight industry oil levy

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 17 : 10-Jun-21

It will cost taxpayers some $47.4m to maintain the Northern Endeavour in 2020-21, according to the federal government’s Budget papers. Meanwhile, oil and gas producers will lobby against a proposed industry levy to help finance decommissioning and remediation costs associated with the offshore oil production vessel in the Timor Sea. Some industry players believe that the Northern Endeavour’s former owner Woodside Petroleum should bear the cost; in 2015 it sold the vessel to Northern Oil & Gas Australia, which subsequently went into administration.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, NORTHERN OIL AND GAS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Shell keen for all options in the NW Shelf gas hunt

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 10-Jun-21

Shell Australia chairman Tony Nunan says the energy giant is still open to processing LNG from the Scarborough gas field via the North West Shelf venture’s Karratha gas plant. Shell one of six partners in the NW Shelf project, along with Woodside Petroleum. The latter’s acting CEO Meg O’Neill says the Karratha plant is not suitable for processing ‘dry’ gas from Scarborough. Woodside instead plans to process the gas at a new processing train at its Pluto LNG plant near Karratha. Some analysts believe that the NW Shelf project’s declining output may force several of its five LNG trains to close down in coming years.

CORPORATES
SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, NORTH WEST SHELF LNG PTY LTD

Mega projects have a future: Woodside

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Original article by Perry Williams, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 9-Jun-21

The Western Australian government has approved Woodside Petroleum’s proposed expansion of the Pluto LNG project, subject to a number of conditions. Woodside will be required to reduce carbon emissions at the LNG plant by 30 per cent by 2030, while the project must become carbon-neutral by 2050. The expanded plant will process gas from the Scarborough gas field; Woodside’s interim CEO Meg O’Neill contend that the company can both develop Scarborough and meet its carbon reduction targets, given that the gas field contains almost no carbon dioxide.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Refinery rescue will cost $2.35bn

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-May-21

The federal government’s rescue package for the nation’s oil refineries was designed in consultation with Ampol and Viva Energy. The two companies will receive up to $2bn in direct taxpayer funding over the next decade. The variable payments system means that Ampol and Viva will receive greater taxpayer support during periods when their refineries’ margins are low. The government will also provide $302m for the refineries to shift to higher standards three years ahead of schedule. Australia’s two remaining oil refineries employ more than 1,200 people.

CORPORATES
AMPOL LIMITED – ALD, VIVA ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX VEA

Levy sparks alarm in energy industry

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-May-21

Industry body APPEA has expressed concern about the federal government’s proposed levy on the nation’s offshore oil and gas industry. The Budget measure will help fund the cost of decommissioning the Northern Endeavour floating platform and the associated Laminaria and Corallina oil fields in the Timor Sea. APPEA Andrew McConville says other options should be considered, warning that the levy is a "terrible precedent" that could adversely affect the domestic economy and jobs in the oil and gas sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Shell plunges to $6bn loss as virus hits

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 26-Apr-21

Shell Australia has posted a full-year loss of $US4.9bn ($6.3bn), compared with a loss of just $US661m previously. The latest financial result was marred by a $US6.2bn writedown of the energy giant’s Australian operations due to a sharp fall in the crude oil price in 2020. The Prelude floating LNG venture was the primary cause of the big writedown. Australian LNG producers have now incurred combined writedowns of more than $25bn in the wake of the pandemic.

CORPORATES
SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

Mine export surge holds up economy

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Mar-21

The federal government expects the value of Australia’s resources and energy exports to top $296bn in 2020-21, after a record $291bn in the previous financial year. The surge in export earnings will be driven by iron ore; the Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources now expects iron ore earnings to total $136bn, compared with its forecast in December of $123bn for the financial year. However, exports of LNG, thermal coal and coking coal are forecast to be lower in 2020-21. The record resources and energy exports will boost the Budget bottom line, with the full-year deficit now expected to be $150bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Forrest’s LNG import vital to avoid shortfall

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 29-Mar-21

Andrew Forrest’s proposed LNG import terminal at Port Kembla in New South Wales is tipped to inject up to 500 terajoules of gas into the domestic market per day, beginning in January 2023. Nicola Falcon from the Australian Energy Market Operator says the project comes at a critical time, with current gas production in Victoria falling at a faster rate than was previously forecast. The Port Kembla project is expected to cost in the vicinity of $250 million and is one of six LNG import projects being flagged for NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED

Gorgon LNG permits slashed by decade

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Jan-21

Chevron will be required to renew its permit to operate the Gorgon LNG export facility on Barrow Island more frequently after the Western Australian government decided to amend it. Chevron was granted an amended 20-year permit in July 2018, but Environment Minister Stephen Dawson has reduced this to just 10 years, arguing that this is sufficient. The Conservation Council of WA had lobbied for Chevron’s permit to be reduced to just three years. Shipments from the Gorgon project commenced in March 2016. Gorgon is expected to be operational for about four decades.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION, CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Producers to reap windfall as LNG price soars

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 17 : 11-Jan-21

Australia’s revenue from LNG exports is likely to rise strongly after a surge in demand for LNG in Asia boosted the price of the commodity. Industry sources have stated that a Japanese utility has paid $US37 per million British thermal units for an LNG shipment from the Gorgon project in Western Australia. The benchmark for LNG spot prices in North Asia also recently rose to $US20.70 per mbtu, compared with just $US2 per mbtu in June. Cold weather in Asia has been the key driver of the surge in demand for LNG.

CORPORATES