ENERGY INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

Abu Dhabi’s XRG in $2.1b deal to buy Shell out of North West Shelf

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 4-Nov-26

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s investment arm XRG has struck a deal to acquire Shell’s 16.7 per cent stake in Australia’s North West Shelf LNG project. The deal will cost XRG at least $US1.45bn ($2.08bn), which includes an additional payment if the Browse LNG project is approved. The transaction is subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board, while the North West Shelf’s other partners have pre-emption rights which could allow them to block the deal. XRG had previously attempted to enter the Australian gas market via a $36.4bn takeover bid for Santos, which it withdrew in September 2025.

CORPORATES
ABU DHABI NATIONAL OIL COMPANY, XRG, SHELL PLC, NORTH WEST SHELF LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Woodside abandons 25-year Sunrise LNG quest in sale to Timor-Leste

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 28-Oct-26

Woodside Energy will divest its stake in the undeveloped Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea, with its focus shifting to major growth projects. Timor-Leste’s state-owned oil and gas company Timor Gap will pay $285m for Woodside’s 33.44 per cent stake in the long-stalled project. It will now assume full ownership of the project, having recently agreed to buy the 10 per cent stake of Osaka Gas. Meanwhile, Woodside’s Browse LNG project is under renewed scrutiny after leaked 2023 documents from Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority show that it had raised concerns about Browse’s potential impact on Scott Reef.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, TIMOR GAP EP, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY

Labor’s gas scheme needs clarity

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 21-Oct-26

Origin Energy’s CEO Frank Calabria says the group supports a domestic gas reservation scheme that will provide a durable framework for the Australian market. However, he says the federal government must clarify some details of its proposed scheme, including how its plans to force LNG producers to sell up to 20 per cent of their output to the domestic market will work during periods when there is sufficient supply of gas. Australian Energy Producers CEO Samantha McCulloch has in turn warned that the forced-sale requirement could prompt some gas producers to exit the domestic market.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG,{STORE}AUSTRALIAN ENERGY PRODUCERS

Woodside to quit strait if reservation scheme tanks gas price

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 14-Oct-26

The federal government is expected to release details of its domestic gas reservation policy within days. However, Woodside Energy’s chief operating officer Breyden Lonnie has warned that a proposed gas drilling program in Bass Strait will not proceed if the reservation scheme materially affects domestic gas prices. Shell Australia chair Cecile Wake in turn says the government must address some "fundamental flaws" in the gas reservation scheme, including the requirement for gas producers to supply 110 per cent of forecast domestic demand and the obligation to sell gas regardless of prevailing prices.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

No east coast gas crisis: Santos

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 9-Sep-26

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher will address the National Press Club in Canberra today; he will use the speech to contend that Australia’s east coast is not facing an imminent gas crisis and that it will have adequate supplies until at least 2030. He will also reject claims that Queensland’s LNG export industry has caused supply issues for the east coast market. Gallagher will in turn urge the federal government to make changes to its proposed domestic gas reservation scheme, arguing that the "must sell" clause on reserved gas should be replaced by an obligation for producers to offer gas to the domestic market on commercial terms.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Woodside axes green targets in profit hunt

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 26-Aug-26

Woodside Energy has posted a 2026 interim net profit of $US1.67bn, which is 27 per cent higher than previously. Revenue was up 13 per cent at $US7.45bn, and shareholders will receive a half-year dividend of $US0.57 per share. Meanwhile, the oil and gas producer has scrapped its target of investing $7bn in clean energy, as well as its targets for reducing Scope 3 emissions; however, it remains committed to its existing Scope 1 and 2 targets. Woodside also intends to review its US ammonia business and could potentially sell it.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS

Santos boss warns investors are misreading energy crisis

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 17 : 6-May-26

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has cautioned against further federal government intervention in response to the Iran war-induced energy crisis. He has told the Macquarie Australia Conference that it would be an "act of self-harm" to impose an additional tax burden on the oil and gas industry, arguing that the sector already contributes via royalties and the petroleum resource rent tax. Gallagher also warned that supply disruptions and elevated risk across global energy markets will persist for some time; he noted that the "unprecedented" release of strategic petroleum reserves globally will result in ongoing volatility as governments rebuild their stockpiles.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Woodside, BHP circle Slattery

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Original article by Perry Williams, Colin Packham, Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Mar-26

Woodside Energy’s chairman Richard Goyder says its board is assessing a number of internal and external candidates to succeed former CEO Meg O’Neill; a decision is expected by the end of March. BHP’s president for Australia, Geraldine Slattery, is considered to the leading external candidate for the role, although she is also in contention to replace CEO Mike Henry when he eventually steps down; there is market speculation that BHP will name Henry’s successor by August. Saul Kavonic from MST Marquee says that recruiting an external candidate may be challenging for Woodside, given that its executive remuneration is below that of its global peers.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MST MARQUEE

Santos defeats landmark greenwashing court challenge

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 15 & 24 : 18-Feb-26

Santos committed to a 2040 target of net-zero from its Scope 1 and 2 emissions in its 2020 annual report and investor presentations. The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility subsequently pursued legal action against Santos, alleging that the oil and gas group had breached continuous disclosure or consumer laws, but the Federal Court has dismissed the case. The court has not yet published its reasons for ruling in favour of Santos, although the judgment is expected to clarify that forward-looking emissions pledges are not in breach of disclosure laws provided that a company can demonstrate that they had reasonable grounds for making the claims at the time.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Santos-led GLNG export venture most vulnerable to new gas reservation rules: RBC

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 24-Dec-25

RBC Capital Markets analyst Gordon Ramsay says the federal government’s proposed domestic gas reservation scheme will have more impact on GLNG than its two rival Gladstone-based gas export projects. Ramsay notes that the GLNG project is highly reliant on third-party gas to meet its export contracts, while it also has lower gas reserves compared with the Australian Pacific LNG and Queensland Curtis LNG projects; Santo has a 30 per cent stake in GLNG. Meanwhile, Hamish McKenzie from the Grattan Institute contends that shipping extra gas from Queensland to the southern gas market will be challenging given that the existing pipeline between the states is already near full capacity.

CORPORATES
RBC CAPITAL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, GRATTAN INSTITUTE