LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Woodside terms rejected by Oil Search

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 23 : 10-Sep-15

Shares in Woodside Petroleum rose by 0.81 per cent to $A29.90 on 9 September 2015. Takeover target Oil Search was down 0.63 per cent at $A7.85, which is the implied bid price based on the offer of one Woodside share for every four Oil Search shares. Oil Search directors are likely to meet shortly to discuss the bid, but they are unlikely to grant Woodside’s request for exclusivity in merger talks. Neil Beveridge of Bernstein says ExxonMobil could also be a potential bidder for Oil Search.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, BERNSTEIN AND ASSOCIATES, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Woodside’s cheap trick

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Original article by Perry Williams, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Sep-15

Shares in Oil Search closed 17.4 per cent higher at $A7.90 on 8 September 2015, in response to an $A11.6bn takeover bid from Woodside Petroleum. The offer comprises one Woodside share for every four shares in Oil Search, which values the bid at $A7.65 per share based on current share prices. However, Credit Suisse believes that Woodside would need to lift its offer to around $A10 per share to gain Oil Search’s support for the bid. Woodside shares were $A0.92 lower at $A29.66.

CORPORATES
OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BG GROUP PLC, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GRESHAM PARTNERS LIMITED, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALLENS

Gorgon’s first LNG cargo faces delay

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 3-Aug-15

US-based Chevron has advised that the Gorgon LNG project may not commence shipments until early 2016. Production was initially slated to begin in the September 2014 quarter, but this was subsequently pushed back to late 2015 due to delays and a cost blowout. Chevron executive Jay Johnson says unforeseeable events such as inclement weather could further delay the $US54bn project, which also faces the threat of strike action over enterprise agreement negotiations.

CORPORATES
CHEVRON CORPORATION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, CB&I INCORPORATED

LNG price pain to be laid bare

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 14-Jul-15

Nik Burns of UBS expects Woodside Petroleum’s revenue for the June 2015 quarter to be 36 per cent lower than the March quarter. Meanwhile, revenue at Oil Search is tipped to be 35 per cent lower, as the downturn in the crude oil price begins to impact on LNG producers. Meanwhile, Adrian Prendergast of Morgans Financial expects Woodside’s dividend yield to fall from seven per cent to 3.2 per cent.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, APACHE CORPORATION, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, PLATTS

Woodside’s FLNG venture design begins

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 2-Jul-15

Australian-listed Woodside Petroleum and its partners in the Browse floating LNG project will commence front-end engineering and design work. Woodside still hopes a final decision on the project will be made in the second half of 2016, although Citigroup recently forecast that a decision will be delayed until mid-2017. Woodside will hold a 30.6 per cent stake in the Browse project, which has not secured any customers.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Woodside mulls $US8.5b Texas LNG export project

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 5-Jun-15

Woodside Petroleum and US-based Sempra Energy are expected to make a final investment decision on a proposed LNG export terminal in 2017. Development of the Port Arthur project in Texas could cost about $US8.5bn ($A10.9bn), according to Citigroup. The export terminal would have annual production capacity of 10 million tonnes. Woodside is keen to build its presence in the LNG trading sector.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SEMPRA ENERGY, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, CHENIERE ENERGY INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

LNG projects risk start delays

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 25-May-15

Wood Mackenzie has forecast that several major LNG projects in Australia will not commence production on schedule. The consulting firm expects Inpex’s Ichthys project to begin production in 2017 rather than late 2016, although Inpex executives have recently indicated that the original timeframe will be met. Wood Mackenzie also anticipates that the Wheatstone and Gorgon projects will face delays in commencing production.

CORPORATES
WOOD MACKENZIE, INPEX CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION, SAMSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPANY LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, DAEWOO CORPORATION, ICHTHYS LNG PTY LTD, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, MACQUARIE PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

‘Leaner’ Woodside targets acquisitions

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 22-May-15

Woodside Petroleum is expected to decide whether to proceed with the Greater Enfield oil project in 2016. The group will commence engineering and design work on the Western Australian project ahead of schedule, in order to secure lower costs for oil rigs. CEO Peter Coleman has also flagged acquisitions, including oil projects and LNG receiving terminals in Asia. Woodside is also seeking to reduce costs and improve productivity.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, APACHE CORPORATION, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, CHEVRON CORPORATION, WOOD MACKENZIE, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED

Services sector ‘well placed’ for LNG boom

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 23 : 21-May-15

WorleyParsons CEO Andrew Wood rejects suggestions that mining services groups lack the capacity to handle huge growth in Australia’s LNG industry in coming years. Chevron Australia MD Roy Krzywosinski recently expressed concern about the ability of mining services providers to cope with the increase in LNG production. Wood argues that once projects commence production their maintenance requirements are much lower than in the construction stage.

CORPORATES
WORLEYPARSONS LIMITED – ASX WOR, CHEVRON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BG GROUP PLC, CHEVRON CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INPEX CORPORATION, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

LNG barge resurfaces

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 20-May-15

Santos and Engie dropped plans to use floating LNG technology for the Bonaparte gas project in mid-2015, as it was deemed to be unviable. However, the two groups may revisit the proposal by placing an FLNG plant on a barge just off the coast of the Northern Territory. It is estimated that this would reduce the cost of using FLNG technology from $US4bn to around $US2bn. It would also cut the Bonaparte project’s annual production from 2.6 million tonnes of LNG to two million tonnes.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ENGIE SA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD