GAS – PRICES – AUSTRALIA

Albanese plan has dealt a blow to east coast gas supply

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 23-Dec-22

APPEA CEO Samantha McCulloch has warned that the federal government’s intervention in the energy market will deter future investment and affect gas supply on the east coast. She adds that Senex Energy’s decision to put a $1bn expansion of its Surat Basin projects on hold is exactly what the industry warned about when the government moved to impose gas price caps. However, the intervention has been defended by Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who argues that Australian industries would have collapsed in 2023 if Labor had taken no action.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, SENEX ENERGY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

Gas reservation mooted as energy row heats up

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Perry Williams, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 14-Dec-22

The oil and gas industry has criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he flagged the possibility of adopting a national gas reservation policy. Albanese has praised Western Australia’s gas reservation policy and indicated that replicating this at federal level may be needed as a longer-term solution to rising energy prices than the government’s proposed intervention. NSW and Victoria have advocated a national gas reservation scheme, but APPEA CEO Samantha McCulloch says adequate measures are already in place, such as the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism. She contends that increased regulation will deter investment and adversely affect Australia’s reputation amongst its key trading partners.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Call for energy ministers to agree to gas price cap at 30% of current market offers

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Original article by Peter Hannam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 28-Oct-22

Federal and state energy minister will meet in Melbourne on Friday, in the wake of the budget forecast of big increases in electricity and gas prices. Energy Users Association of Australia CEO Andrew Richards has called for gas prices to be capped in response to the energy crisis that has been driven by the invasion of Ukraine. He notes that some industrial users are being offered contracts for gas at about $35 per gigajoule. This compares with about $10 per gigajoule just over a year ago, and Richards contends that capping prices at around this level would be "pretty fair and reasonable" for manufacturers and gas producers alike.

CORPORATES
ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Energy bill shock hits manufacturers

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 26-May-22

Many Australian manufacturers are facing big increases in their energy costs due to rising wholesale electricity and gas prices. NSW-based Causmag International is among the companies that have signalled that they may be forced to cease trading due to rising gas prices. The magnesium products manufacturer’s new gas supplier AGL Energy has set the default rate at $44.60 per gigajoule, which is significantly above the spot price. Causmag MD Aditya Jhunjhunwala has called for federal government intervention. The company’s previous gas supplier Weston Energy recently ceased trading due to the surge in gas prices.

CORPORATES
CAUSMAG INTERNATIONAL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, WESTON ENERGY PTY LTD

Manufacturers’ hopes for cheap gas dashed

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Elouise Fowler, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 22-Jan-21

The federal government’s revised Heads of Agreement with Queensland LNG gas exporters on domestic gas supply has not been well received by industrial gas buyers, with the agreement imposing little or no conditions on pricing. Stephen Bell, the CEO of gas-dependent plastics maker Qenos, says the new agreement offers no basis for any confidence that competitive prices can be achieved, while Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Daniel Walton said the agreement "sells out Australian manufacturing workers". Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt claims the government had never set a specific price target for gas.

CORPORATES
QENOS PLASTICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

High LNG price sends chill up buyers’ spines

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 6-Jan-21

Credit Suisse energy analyst Saul Kavonic says it is possible that there will be a return to double-digit domestic gas prices in 2021. His comments are on the back of North Asian LNG spot prices rising to a six-year high, due to a combination of a supply squeeze and freezing winter temperatures, while the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is predicting a LNG netback price in February of $15.52 a gigajoule, 78 per cent higher than January.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Gas intervention could backfire: Santos

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 17 : 16-Oct-20

Andrew Liveris, an adviser to the federal government, contends a gas price of $4 a kilojoule is an achievable target for the east coast market. However, gas producers believe such a target is not realistic, and Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has told the annual Citi Annual Investment Conference that the $4 target is too ambitious. Gallagher says "meddling on price settings" by the federal government would put at risk new supply and investment, while he says that increasing gas supply will help to bring about lower prices.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO

Importing LNG cheaper

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Jun-20

Jemena MD Frank Tudor says a gas pipeline linking Western Australia to the east coast is not a viable option, as the cost of transporting gas across the country would be prohibitive. He argues that a proposed LNG import terminal at Port Kembla would be much more cost-effective than the $6bn transcontinental pipeline that has been put forward by the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission. Jemena plans to link its eastern gas pipeline to the import terminal.

CORPORATES
JEMENA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION

Cheap gas to power recovery

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-May-20

Ensuring that the east coast has access to affordable gas will be part of the federal government’s strategy to boost the economy in the wake of the pandemic. The National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission is looking at a range of options for reducing the domestic price of gas; chairman Nev Power says these could include building a pipeline from Western Australia’s offshore gas fields to Moomba in South Australia. He adds that another option could be to relocate energy-intensive manufacturing to WA, where gas prices are lower due to a domestic gas reserve.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION

Gas pressure rises as Asian demand cools

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 17-Feb-20

Australian LNG producers are facing a tougher trading environment in 2020, according to the Australian Energy Regulator, with Asian buyers seeking better deals and reducing the volumes they purchase. Australia supplied 49 per cent of China’s LNG needs in 2019, but demand for LNG in China in 2020 may now only increase by four per cent, compared to a previous forecast of 13 per cent. However, falling Asian LNG spot prices could be good news for Australian gas consumers, according to the AER, as it gives them more bargaining power when striking short-term gas deals with gas exporters.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR