LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Woodside plays down $US5 billion Wheatstone cost blowout

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 1-Nov-16

Woodside Petroleum has advised that a 17 per cent increase in the cost of the Wheatstone LNG project will have limited effect on the capital expenditure guidance it issued in early 2016. The oil and gas producer has a 13 per cent stake in the Chevron-led project, whose total cost has risen by $US5bn ($A6.6bn) to $US34bn. Saul Kavonic of Wood Mackenzie says he had already anticipated a cost over-run of at least 15 per cent.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CHEVRON CORPORATION, WOOD MACKENZIE, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Record LNG output limits Woodside pain

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 21-Oct-16

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum has reported that it produced 25.2 million barrels of oil equivalent during the September 2016 quarter, which is 13.5 per cent higher than the June quarter. Sales revenue rose by 19.8 per cent to $US988m ($A1.29bn), although this was nine per cent lower year-on-year. Woodside has lifted its full-year production guidance for 2016 to between 92 million and 95 million boe.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CHEVRON CORPORATION

Origin Energy in recovery mode after $25b APLNG venture

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 20-Oct-16

Just 3.02 per cent of votes cast at Origin Energy’s 2016 AGM rejected the group’s remuneration report, although an equities grant to outgoing CEO Grant King attracted a "no" vote of 16.21 per cent. King told shareholders that the company’s investment in the Australia Pacific LNG project had taxed its resources, and a stake of 30 per cent rather than 37.5 per cent may have been appropriate. However, King is upbeat about Origin’s outlook. He will be succeeded by Origin veteran Frank Calabria.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Woodside would welcome Scarborough’s fare

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 14-Sep-16

Woodside Petroleum recently secured a deal to acquire 50 per cent of BHP Billiton’s stake in the Scarborough gas fields off the coast of Western Australia. There has been speculation that gas from Scarborough could potentially be processed at Woodside’s LNG plants, rather than using floating LNG technology. Woodside COO Michael Utsler says it is up to project operator ExxonMobil to broach the subject of options for processing Scarborough gas.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

LNG plants set for $20bn energy boom

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 12-Sep-16

LNG producers may commit to new projects in coming years in order to capitalise on the fact that the North West Shelf and Darwin LNG processing plants will soon have spare capacity. Wood Mackenzie expects the plants to have spare capacity by 2021, as production at these projects declines. Saul Kavonic of Wood Mackenzie says the Scarborough or Greater Gorgon gas fields could potentially yield low-cost LNG by using the North West Shelf infrastructure.

CORPORATES
WOOD MACKENZIE, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, DARWIN LNG PTY LTD, NORTH WEST SHELF LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, CONOCOPHILLIPS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, KAROON GAS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX KAR

APLNG to sell gas on local market

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 7-Sep-16

Surplus gas from the Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips-led Australia Pacific LNG project will be made available to domestic users rather than exported. APA Group will operate a 50km pipeline on behalf of APLNG that will be used to supply the eastern states with coal-seam gas that is surplus to export requirements. The Shell-owned Queensland Curtis LNG project also supplies surplus gas to the domestic market, as prices are higher than in the spot market.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, CONOCO (UK) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, APA GROUP – ASX APA, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Origin Energy demerger chat emerges again

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 19-Aug-16

Australian-listed Origin Energy has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A589m, compared with a loss of $A658m previously. The result was marred by after-tax impairment charges of $A515m, and the diversified energy group’s underlying profit was 41 per cent lower at $A354m. Meanwhile, Origin reduced its net debt by $A4bn to $A9.1bn due to a capital raising in 2015 and asset sales. CEO Grant King says a demerger of its LNG and energy retailing businesses remains a possibility.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

Santos faces first loss in 20 years

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 17-Aug-16

Oil and gas producer Santos is poised to post a 2016 interim loss of nearly $US1bn, although opinion is divided regarding its underlying result. Macquarie Group anticipates an underlying profit of $US40m, but Citigroup and UBS have forecast a loss of $US80m and $US20m respectively. Santos’s total impairment charges over the last three years now exceed $US8bn, including the recent $US1.5bn pre-tax write-down of its stake in the Gladstone LNG project.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Santos clears the decks with $2bn write-off

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 16-Aug-16

Oil and gas producer Santos is tipped to post a 2015-16 loss of at least $US1bn, after revealing an additional $US1.5bn ($A1.96bn) write-down of the Gladstone LNG project. Santos had previously announced asset write-downs totalling $US3.9bn across its business in February. The Gladstone project will be able to produce about 7.8 million tonnes of LNG each year when it reaches full capacity, but Santos has advised that output will be capped at the 7.2 million tonnes that LNG customers have agreed to purchase.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

ATO drops boom on marketing hubs

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 10-Aug-16

The use of offshore marketing hubs by resources groups will attract greater scrutiny from the Australian Taxation Office. The proposed crackdown will result in such companies being subject to stricter auditing and disclosure requirements if they are not completely transparent about their marketing arrangements. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both use marketing hubs in Singapore, while the ATO is concerned that the oil and gas industry may pursue profit-shifting arrangements as LNG exports ramp up.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CHEVRON CORPORATION, CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BP PLC, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION