ENERGY INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

Dissident push falters at InterOil

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Original article by Brian Robins
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 20 : 13-Jun-16

Takeover target InterOil has advised that its annual meeting will proceed on 14 June 2016, after a court dismissed an application by ex-CEO Phil Mulacek to have it delayed. Shareholders will vote on Mulacek’s push for a board spill. He opposes a $US2.2 billion ($A3bn) bid for the company by Australian-listed Oil Search, arguing that the offer undervalues InterOil. The majority of institutional investors are believed to support the bid.

CORPORATES
INTEROIL CORPORATION, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, SUPREME COURT OF YUKON

Low prices knock sense into producers

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 10-Jun-16

There is growing recognition among Australian energy groups of the need to continue reducing costs, amid sustained weakness in the crude oil price and a growing oversupply in the LNG market. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has suggested greater collaboration among rival LNG groups and has raised the possibility of LNG infrastructure being owned by independent operators rather than producers. Meanwhile, Woodside Petroleum CEO Peter Coleman has acknowledged that the LNG projects in Queensland have cost much more than originally budgeted.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, NOVA SYSTEMS, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, CLOUGH LIMITED, McKINSEY AND COMPANY, CB&I INCORPORATED, SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Oil Search bid set for success

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 24-May-16

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says people in his nation will directly benefit from the takeover bid for InterOil by Australian-listed Oil Search. The $US2.2bn bid comprises 8.05 of Oil Search’s shares for each InterOil share, which values the bid at $US40.25 per share. InterOil shares have risen by 38 per cent to $US43.63 in response to the bid. Oil Search intends to on-sell part of InterOil’s stake in the Papua LNG project to Total if the bid succeeds.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, INTEROIL CORPORATION, TOTAL SA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, RAYMOND JAMES AND ASSOCIATES

Fortescue backs offshore competition on gas reservation

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 20-May-16

Fortescue Metals Group believes that changes to Australia’s lease retention system for oil and gas fields should be a higher priority than the Australian Labor Party’s proposed national interest test for LNG export projects. Fortescue, as a major user of gas, argues that scrapping the so-called "use it or lose it" system would be more effective in increasing the supply of gas for domestic customers. The lease retention system has come under scrutiny in the wake of Woodside Petroleum’s decision to put the Browse LNG project on hold.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, APACHE CORPORATION, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, HESS CORPORATION, MURPHY OIL CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, EXXON CHEMICAL COMPANY

Policy dividing state’s industry

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-May-16

Energy Quest’s Graeme Bethune says Western Australia’s requirement that 15 per cent of LNG production must be reserved for domestic use does not appear to have had much impact on gas prices in the state. Critics of the policy include the state’s Economic Regulation Authority, which concluded in 2014 that it deters investment in the gas industry. However, the DomGas alliance argues that there has been a sharp rise in investment since the policy was introduced in 2006.

CORPORATES
ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ECONOMIC REGULATION AUTHORITY, DOMGAS ALLIANCE, CHEVRON CORPORATION, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SINO IRON PTY LTD

Oil’s bounce offers respite for producers

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 28 : 18-May-16

The price of Brent crude oil has rallied to almost $US50 per barrel in mid-May 2016, after falling to around $US28 in January. The rebound has in turn bolstered the share prices of Australian oil and gas producers such as Woodside Petroleum and Santos. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs forecasts that the oil price will rise to $US60 a barrel in the December 2017 quarter, although the firms says increased supply could result in it falling to around $US45 in the March quarter.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, MERRILL LYNCH AND COMPANY INCORPORATED

Exxon refines a growth story at Altona

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 13-May-16

Global energy group ExxonMobil will invest $A370m in its oil refinery in the Melbourne suburb of Altona over five years. This includes $A20m that will be spent on upgrading the plant’s daily production from 80,000 barrels to 90,000. The Altona refinery accounts for about 50 per cent of Victoria’s fuel supply, and ExxonMobil’s Andrew Warrell notes that the downturn of the Australian dollar in recent years has made the facility more competitive.

CORPORATES
EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, VIVA ENERGY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Investors puzzled as AWE rejects Lone Star bid

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 18 & 31 : 12-May-16

Shares in oil and gas producer AWE Limited closed 16 per cent higher at $A0.715 on 11 May 2016, after directors spurned an unsolicited takeover approach from a US private equity firm. Lone Star has offered $A0.80 per share, valuing the bid at $A420m, but AWE has described it as "opportunistic". The board was also concerned about some of the conditions attached to the bid, including a requirement for exclusivity. AWE’s shares have traded at an average of $A0.50 for much of 2016.

CORPORATES
AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, LONE STAR FUNDS, LONE STAR JAPAN ACQUISITIONS LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, PEMBROKE RESOURCES PTY LTD, PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, PENGANA GLOBAL RESOURCES FUND, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED, CUE ENERGY RESOURCES NL – ASX CUE, ELLERSTON CAPITAL PTY LTD, PERENNIAL INVESTMENT PARTNERS LIMITED, ANTARES ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AZZ

Santos puts cost cutting before more asset sales

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Original article by Simon Evans, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 32 : 5-May-16

Shares in Santos closed 8.7 per cent lower at $A4.20 on 4 May 2016, after the oil and gas producer’s annual meeting. Santos has shed 825 employees over the last 18 months, and CEO Kevin Gallagher has confirmed that more redundancies are on the agenda as part of the group’s cost-cutting strategy. He has also indicated that Santos may eventually divest some assets, but stressed that reducing costs and stabilising the company is the immediate priority.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HONY CAPITAL, ENN HOLDINGS, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, TOTAL SA, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Chevron close to Gorgon LNG restart

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-May-16

Energy giant Chevron has advised that production at the Gordon LNG project should resume by the end of May 2016. Mechanical problems forced Chevron to shut down the Barrow Island processing plant shortly after production commenced in early March. Chevron is confident that the first LNG train will reach full production within 6-8 months. Meanwhile, Chevron still expects production at the Wheatstone project to begin in mid-2017.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, GORGON PTY LTD, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, Z ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ZNZ