ENERGY INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

FAR moves closer to Senegal ambitions

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 11-Dec-19

FAR Limited has yet to confirm details of a capital raising, with its shares placed in a trading halt on 10 December pending an announcement. The equity raising is believed to include a $146m share placement and a $30m share purchase plan. The capital raising and a new debt facility will provide FAR with the funding needed to proceed with the Sangomar oil project in Senegal, in which it has a 15 per cent stake. The project is initially slated to produce about 230,000 million barrels of oil, commencing in 2023.

CORPORATES
FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CAIRN ENERGY PLC

Woodside moves forward on $6b Senegal oil project

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 4-Dec-19

The partners in the Sangomar joint venture have lodged a development plan for the offshore oil project with the Senegal government. The plan was submitted shortly before their licence was due to expire on 4 December. Woodside Petroleum and its partners in the $6bn project propose to undertake a phased development of the oil field, with production slated to commence in 2023. The project has been marred by a dispute between Woodside and junior partner FAR Limited over the former’s acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ stake.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PARK STUD PTY LTD, FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, CONOCOPHILLIPS, PETROSEN

Woodside mulls $40bn projects

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 20 : 22-Nov-19

Woodside Petroleum expects to make final investment decisions on its Browse and Scarborough LNG gas projects within 18 months. CEO Peter Coleman says these decisions will be made in an increasingly competitive global environment for LNG producers. He adds that Australia is also competing with countries that have lower corporate tax regimes, less regulation and more competitive labour costs.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, JAPAN AUSTRALIA LNG PTY LTD, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHEVRON CORPORATION

Woodside tests patience on Scarborough

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 20-Nov-19

The recently-announced 52 per cent increase in the resource estimate for the Scarborough gas field may prompt Woodside Petroleum to retain more of its stake in the project. Woodside had previously flagged plans to reduce its 75 per cent stake in Scarborough. However, CEO Peter Coleman says Woodside still intends to reduce its stake in the Pluto 2 LNG plant by up to 50 per cent, although it is not an immediate priority. A deal with BHP to process gas from the Scarborough field via the Pluto plant is expected to be finalised by March.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHEVRON CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, CONOCOPHILLIPS

Big projects to get strike protection

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Oct-19

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has urged Labor to support legislation to allow workplace agreements to apply for the entire construction phase of greenfields projects. The move is aimed at preventing unions and workers from disrupting a resources, energy or infrastructure project by seeking improved wages and conditions if an enterprise agreement expires in the middle of the construction phase. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s Dave Noonan contends that it is unfair to lock in terms and conditions that could last for 5-10 years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, CHEVRON CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Santos seizes Australian oil and gas crown

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 15-Oct-19

Santos expects a $US1.39bn deal to acquire the northern Australia assets of ConocoPhillips to boost its earnings by about 16 per cent. The deal includes the US group’s controlling stake in the Darwin LNG plant, as well as its interests in the Bayu-Undan, Barossa and Poseidon gas fields. Santos will now surpass Woodside Petroleum as Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer. ConocoPhillips still has a 37.5 per cent stake in the Australia Pacific LNG project in Queensland.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, CONOCOPHILLIPS, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, WOOD MACKENZIE, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Oil Search taps Wulff as legend Botten retires

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 & 22 : 2-Oct-19

Oil Search’s incoming CEO Keiran Wulff has downplayed suggestions that the Papua New Guinea-focused LNG producer may become a takeover target after Peter Botten steps down. Wulff says that succession planning has been in the works for some time, given that Botten has been at the helm for 25 years. Wulff, who currently heads Oil Search’s operations in Alaska, will succeed Botten in February. However, Botten will remain at Oil Search until August to ensure a smooth transition.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION

Potential $50b wave of gas M&A deals around the corner

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 30-Aug-19

David Low of Wood Mackenzie says mergers and acquisitions activity in Australia’s oil and gas sector could increase in coming years. He identifies Cooper Energy and Senex Energy as being among the smaller companies that could become takeover targets, while Oil Search could also potentially attract suitors following its recent share price weakness. Low adds that international companies such as ConocoPhillips and Eni could opt to divest some or all of their assets in Australia.

CORPORATES
WOOD MACKENZIE, COOPER ENERGY LIMITED – ASX COE, SENEX ENERGY LIMITED – ASX SXY, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, CONOCOPHILLIPS, ENTE NAZIONALE IDROCARBURI SPA, COMET RIDGE LIMITED – ASX COI, GALILEE ENERGY LIMITED – ASX GLL, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD

Staggering WA find raises cheap LNG hope

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 29-Aug-19

Warrego Energy MD Dennis Donald is bullish about the potential resource at the West Erregulla-2 gas discovery in Western Australia. Warrego and joint venture partner Strike Energy recently announced encouraging results from a drilling at the West Erregulla-2 well in the North Perth Basin. Donald says it may be part of a much larger onshore conventional gas resource that could prove to be more economical to develop for LNG production than some offshore gas fields.

CORPORATES
WARREGO ENERGY LIMITED – ASX WGO, STRIKE ENERGY LIMITED – ASX STX, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, AWE LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, CSBP LIMITED

Chevron starts carbon storage

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 9-Aug-19

Chevron Corporation has commenced its carbon dioxide injection program at the Gorgon LNG project, two years behind schedule. The initiative is expected to reduce Gorgon’s carbon emissions by about 40 per cent, with some 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to be injected into rocks beneath Barrow Island over the life of the $US54bn ($79.74bn) project. Conservation Council of Western Australia director Piers Verstegen says Chevron should offset the carbon dioxide that it has emitted since March 2017, when the carbon dioxide injection program had been slated to begin.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE