ENERGY INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

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

Inpex expects glut of LNG to continue

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 19 : 5-Aug-19

The spot price of LNG in Asia has fallen to $US4 per million British thermal units, compared with $US11/MMBtu in late 2018. The LNG market has been affected by factors such as increased supply and slowing global economic growth. However, Inpex CEO Takayuki Ueda is upbeat about the outlook for LNG, saying Asian demand will remain strong. Meanwhile, Inpex is considering an increase in the capacity of its Ichthys LNG project.

CORPORATES
INPEX CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION

Rivals baulk at BHP’s carbon push

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 25-Jul-19

Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association CEO Andrew McConville says the resources sector should be solely responsible for addressing its scope 3 emissions, and government intervention is not necessary. The issue has been highlighted by BHP’s move to address carbon emissions across its supply chain, including those generated by the buyers of its commodities. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has also argued that regulators should not be involved in setting targets for scope 3 emissions.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, GLENCORE PLC, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, DELOITTE ENERGY TRANSITION, CLIMATE ACTION 100+

Browse project delays trigger lease warning

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

The retention lease for the Browse gas field expires in mid-2020, but Woodside Petroleum does not expect to make a final investment decision on the project until the end of that year. Resources Minister Matt Canavan has held meetings with executives from Woodside and Browse partner Shell, and he is said to have sought an update on progress regarding the project. Canavan and the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator have previously flagged the potential for the Browse partners to forfeit their leases under ‘use it or lose it’ provisions.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL OFFSHORE PETROLEUM TITLES ADMINISTRATOR, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

LNG breaks record with $50.5b of exports

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 16-Jul-19

Data from EnergyQuest shows that LNG was Australia’s third-biggest source of export revenue in 2018-19, after iron ore and coal. LNG exports totalled 75.1 million tonnes by volume, an increase of 21.2 per cent, and about $50.5bn in terms of value. Shipments from Queensland’s three LNG plants increased from 20.5 million tonnes in 2017-18 to 21.8 million tonnes, although new LNG projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory were the main driver of the growth in exports. The federal government expects LNG export earnings to peak at $54bn in 2019-20.

CORPORATES
ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, CHEVRON CORPORATION, GLOBAL ENERGY MONITOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Gas pressure rising for Woodside

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 10-Jul-19

Saul Kavonic of Credit Suisse says the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator recently warned the Browse LNG partners that they could potentially forfeit their leases under ‘use it or lose it’ provisions. Resources Minister Matt Canavan has also issued a similar warning to Woodside Petroleum and its partners, whose retention leases must be renewed in mid-2020. Kavonic suggests that NOPTA could potentially subject the Browse partners to certain conditions if the leases are renewed, or seek to exclude certain partners that have been reticent about making a final investment decision.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, JAPAN AUSTRALIA LNG PTY LTD, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL OFFSHORE PETROLEUM TITLES ADMINISTRATOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED