ENERGY INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

Woodside’s Apache bid may kill Browse

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 10-Dec-14

Insiders claim that Australian-listed Woodside Petroleum has made a pitch to US partner Apache ­Energy, to acquire the latter’s 13% stake in the Wheatstone LNG development offshore Western Australia. The likely price tag is $US1.8bn ($A2.17bn), and other potential suitors appear to have abandoned their bids due to the recent decline of the crude oil price. If Woodside goes ahead, it may no longer want to pursue its stalled Browse LNG project. A floating LNG production platform has been proposed for it by Woodside and allies Royal Dutch Shell and BP

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, APACHE ENERGY LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, TEMASEK HOLDINGS (PTE) LTD, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, NOBLE GROUP LIMITED, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS, PAVILION ENERGY PTE LTD, ORBIS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Santos slumps after rating downgrade

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 10-Dec-14

Investors have responded bearishly to a move by Standard & Poor’s to reduce the credit rating of Australian-listed Santos from "BBB+" to "BBB". Santos shares closed $A0.60 lower at $A7.70 on 9 December 2014, after reaching an intra-day low of $A7.46. The oil and gas producer has indicated that the ratings downgrade will have no impact on its finances, and notes that it has a healthy balance sheet

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Oil slump drives Santos to hybrid

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 24 : 27-Nov-14

David Knox and Andrew Seaton, CEO and CFO respectively of energy group Santos, on 26 November 2014 told investors about plans to compensate for the recent decline in the crude oil price by some 30%. The company, which has LNG projects in Queensland and Papua New Guinea, will cut costs and capital investment. A previous estimate for annual cash flow to grow 100% between 2013 and 2016 has been revised down to 65%, and Seaton foreshadowed a potential hybrid debt issue worth EUR500m ($A726m). Santos shares closed $A0.15 higher at $A11.98, after a fall of 5% the day before

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, SENEX ENERGY LIMITED – ASX SXY, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, PAPUA NEW GUINEA LNG PROJECT, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TOTAL SA

Energy exports at risk as oil prices slump

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Original article by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 26-Nov-14

The price of Brent crude oil is trading at $US0.7945 per barrel, having fallen to $US77.92 in mid-November 2014. David Hewitt of Credit Suisse notes that a number of market watchers are particularly bearish about the outlook for the crude oil price, with some warning that it could fall below $US60. He also says Australian-listed LNG producers would be adversely affected by continued weakness in the crude oil price, as the price of LNG is linked to the crude oil price

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, REUTERS HOLDINGS PLC, LUPUS ALPHA COMMODITY INVESTMENT FUND, BLOOMBERG LP, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Nexus investors lash ASIC inaction

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 23 : 20-Nov-14

Piper Alderman lawyer Amanda Banton, who represents investors in Nexus Energy opposed to its acquisition by Seven Group Holdings, has criticised the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The watchdog has taken no action after Seven made a low offer of $A0.02 and then moved to buy the collapsed Nexus following the rejection by stockholders of the original bid. A major issue is the dual role of Don Voelte as Seven CEO and Nexus chair

CORPORATES
SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, NEXUS ENERGY LIMITED – ASX NXS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, PIPER ALDERMAN, AZURE CAPITAL PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Shareholders target Voelte in Nexus bid

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Original article by Matt Chambers, Sharri Markson, Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 23 : 12-Nov-14

Conglomerate Seven Group Holdings plans to take over Nexus Energy for $A180m, following the latter’s collapse after its board rejected an offer by Seven worth just $A0.02 a share. The fact that Seven CEO Don Voelte also had the role of chair at the gas group has sparked complaints by Nexus investors to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. Legal action is being launched by stockholders such as Bechtel CEO Andrew Greig, ­Liberal Party president Richard Alston, Karoon Gas executive chair Bob Hosking and Michael Fowler, another ex-Nexus chair

CORPORATES
NEXUS ENERGY LIMITED – ASX NXS, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, KAROON GAS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX KAR, BECHTEL PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Woodside mulls regasification to meet domestic obligation

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 10-Nov-14

The Western Australian (WA) Government currently imposes a domestic gas reservation policy on producers such as Woodside Petroleum and its joint venturers in the Browse floating LNG development. The companies are set to continue their lobbying effort against this, but are also preparing for the maintenance of the policy by considering a regasification plant in the South West region of WA. This would help them meet the mandated target of 15% of LNG output to be available to local users

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, AGSO-GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA

ABC in apology over gaffe on gas

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Original article by Sid Maher
The Australian – Page: 19 : 7-Oct-14

The ABC recently repeated a claim made by the Australian Workers’ Union on a website, that all other gas-producing countries had a domestic gas supply reservation policy. This was disputed by the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association lobby group, and CEO David Byers has now accepted a formal apology for the incorrect statement from the public broadcaster

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, RADIO NATIONAL

Chief scientist may sue Jones over coal seam gas remarks

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Original article by Nicole Hasham
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 9 : 6-Oct-14

Sydney talk show radio host Alan Jones, a long-standing critic of the coal seam gas (CSG) sector, has accused New South Wales (NSW) Chief Scientist Mary O’Kane of bias toward the industry. She had issued a report on 30 September 2014 that found any risk posed by CSG drilling activity was manageable, and she is now considering a defamation law suit against Jones. He has also been attacked by Tom Fontaine, chair of the Magnum Gas & Power company that has had its joint project with Apex Energy rejected by the NSW Planning Assessment Commission

CORPORATES
MAGNUM GAS AND POWER LIMITED – ASX MPE, MACQUARIE RADIO NETWORK LIMITED – ASX MRN, APEX ENERGY NL, NEW SOUTH WALES. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST AND ENGINEER, NEW SOUTH WALES. PLANNING ASSESSMENT COMMISSION, 2GB, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NATURE CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF NSW INCORPORATED, LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Cheap gas flows in as prices slump to record lows

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 15 : 1-Sep-14

Origin Energy, Santos and others are building three major LNG processing plants for the export market, in the Gladstone region of Queensland. The projects are forecast to cause higher domestic gas prices as the supply is diverted offshore. However in late August 2014, gas prices for local users have actually declined. In Queensland they have fallen to as little as $A1 per gigajoule, compared with the usual range of $A3 to $A4. From 2015 on they are estimated to reach up to $A10

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD