Origin Energy's APLNG revenues rise on higher gas prices and sales
Origin Energy, a company based in Australia, reported a sequential increase in revenue for its first quarter from its stakes in the Australia Pacific Liquefied Natural Gas (APLNG), backed by higher natural gas prices and strong sales. Origin, which aims to transition to greener energy sources, has said that it is evaluating a variety of early-stage opportunities for renewable development. As of 0014 GMT the shares of the company rose 0.4% to A$9.54, while the benchmark index fell 0.2%. The warm weather in Asia drove up energy demand, but prices have been moderated recently due to a tepid market.
AG&P LNG acquires Australia's Venice Energy and develops South Australian import terminal
The Singapore-based Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific LNG (AG&P LNG) has agreed to acquire the Australian energy infrastructure developer Venice Energy and build its Outer Harbor Import Terminal in South Australia. AG&P LNG aims to have the LNG import terminal at Port Adelaide operational by the first quarter 2027. This was stated in a Thursday statement. The terminal will have an annual import capacity of two million metric tonnes. It will be constructed by converting a LNG carrier with a volume of 145,000 cubic metres into a floating storage unit and regasification (FSRU). The FSRU's maximum send-out capacity will be 400 million standard cubic foot of gas per day.
Origin Energy, Australia's hydrogen hub, plans to leave the Hunter Valley
Origin Energy, Australia's largest energy company, announced on Thursday that it will abandon its potential development project for the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub in New South Wales. The project is estimated to cost A$207.6 millions ($142.60 Million). The second largest power producer in the country said that it will also cease all work on hydrogen development, but remains open to exploring commercial options for HVHH. Origin stated that the decision to leave the Hunter Valley Hydrogen hub reflects the uncertainty surrounding the timing and pace of development of hydrogen markets, as well as the risks involved in developing capital-intensive projects.
ConocoPhillips Beefs Up Stake in Australia Pacific LNG
ConocoPhillips has completed the acquisition of an additional 10% stake in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) from Origin Energy for $1.645 billion. After customary closing adjustments, cash paid for the additional interest is approximately $1.4 billion (AU$2.0 billion). The transaction resulted from the exercise of ConocoPhillips’ preemption right and is funded from cash on the company’s balance sheet.ConocoPhillips now owns a 47.5% interest in APLNG, with Origin Energy and Sinopec owning 27.5% and 25% interests, respectively. Based on the new 47.5% ownership interest and a full-year average Brent price of $78 per barrel…
Virus Lockdowns Pummel Global Gas Demand, Force LNG Output Cuts
Lockdowns to slow the coronavirus pandemic are pummelling gas demand in the world's biggest buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), pushing Asia's spot prices to record lows and forcing some suppliers to start cutting output. Economies worldwide have ground to a halt as virus containment measures have taken their toll, slashing gas demand for power generation, heating, cooking, vehicles and chemical manufacture. The world's biggest LNG markets - Japan, China, South Korea, and India - are all seeing a drop in demand. Asia's spot LNG prices dropped to $1.85 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week, the lowest ever, as cargoes have flooded the market.
Origin Energy to Defer Shale Drilling in Australia
Origin Energy will defer shale exploration drilling in Australia's Northern Territory until the second half of this year in a bid to protect workers from a coronavirus, the company said on Thursday.Origin, operator of a joint venture with Dublin-based Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd, resumed drilling in the Beetaloo Basin last year after a three-year break when drilling was banned, and had hoped to get first test results around July this year.It has estimated the Beetaloo Basin contains 6.6 trillion cubic feet of potentially recoverable gas and is testing how much of that might be commercially recoverable."Given the unprecedented circumstances brought about by COVID-19…
ENN Starts First Phase of Zhoushan LNG Import Terminal
Chinese gas distributor ENN Energy Holdings has begun operations at the first phase of its Zhoushan liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, Vice President Ma Shenyuan said, speaking at a commencement ceremony for the terminal on Friday.As ENN aims to ramp up winter supplies in eastern China, the tanker 'Asia Integrity' docked at the Zhoushan terminal on the same day, bringing 145,000 cubic meters of LNG from Australia supplies to mark the launch of China's first privately-owned LNG facility.ENN has signed long-term deals including sales and purchase agreements with Chevron Corp and Australia's Origin Energy and also has an agreement to buy LNG from Total.
Australian States Delay Approving New Energy Policy
Australia's states on Friday held off approving a plan to end more than a decade of climate and energy wars and spur investment in new power supply, disappointing industry seeking certainty on energy policy.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is pushing a National Energy Guarantee (NEG) in a bid to bring down electricity prices, which have more than doubled over the past decade, and ensure supplies following a string of blackouts in 2016 and 2017.Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said after a meeting with state governments that it had been "an important step forward" for the plan, which has been under negotiation for nearly a year.However, he criticized last minute demands
To Frack or Not to Frack? Australia's NatGas Dilemma
The decision by the government of Australia's Northern Territory government to allow the resumption of fracking for natural gas will do little to immediately solve the country's energy woes, but will likely sharpen political battle lines. The territory's government said on April 17 that it has lifted a near two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, accepting the recommendations of its own commission of inquiry into the practice. Northern Territory is a vast, sparsely-populated 1.4 million square kilometre (540,000 square mile) part of central and northern Australia, and home to two potentially rich basins of natural gas.
Xodus Strengthens APAC Team
Xodus Group’s Perth office has won more than A$3.5 million (£2million) in new contracts over the last six months. Xodus’ Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has had significant success in the growth of its decommissioning business, both in Australia and South-East Asia, where the company has established relationships with several key players. The company has also enhanced its digital production optimization and monitoring tools. With the success, Xodus has increased its workforce locally and appointed Simon Allison as operations director for the APAC region.
Australian Supply Crunch Squeezes LNG Exporters
Spot LNG exports in government's cross-hairs; ConocoPhillips, Origin, Shell now in the firing line. The Australian government on Monday warned that the country's east faced a worse-than-expected natural gas shortfall in 2018, but the competition watchdog said the gap could easily be filled by diverting uncontracted exports to the local market. It is now up to the government to decide by Nov. 1 whether to pull the trigger on its Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism, which allows it to curb liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the nation's east coast if it determines there will be a shortfall in any year.
ConocoPhillips looks to Aussie Transcontinental LNG Pipeline
ConocoPhillips will consider diverting natural gas from fields in northern Australia along a proposed transcontinental pipeline that would link directly to markets in the southeast, a senior executive told Reuters on Thursday. The U.S. oil major is also leaning towards developing the Barossa gas field offshore northern Australia, with a final decision due in early 2019, Kayleen Ewin, the company's vice president for sustainability, communications and external affairs, said in an interview. Ewin said the proposed transcontinental pipe would open Australia's domestic market for northern producers.
Fracking inquiry in Australia to start next week
Australia's Northern Territory government said a planned inquiry into the impact and possible risks of fracking will begin next week, and the practice will remain banned until it has been completed. The resource-rich Territory's newly elected centre-left Labor government banned fracking in September pending an investigation into whether the unconventional oil and gas drilling technique harms farm land or Aboriginal sites. Companies including Origin Energy and Armour Energy, hold exploration acreage in the region, which has also attracted international firms including South Africa's Sasol and Japan's Inpex.
World First to Combine Big Solar and Storage
A world-leading project in far north Queensland is set to combine big battery storage and big solar to supply solar power after sundown and during peak usage times. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $17.4 million funding support for Conergy to build and operate a 10.8 MW (AC) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant with 1.4 MW / 5.3 MWh of lithium-ion battery storage near the town of Lakeland. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the landmark project was well placed to work alongside ARENA’s major push to deploy more large-scale solar PV plants across Australia.
LNG Trade Routes in Flux as New Supply Brings Price Convergence
Australia's ascent to liquefied natural gas (LNG) producing giant is choking off trade routes from Atlantic to Pacific markets established after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, giving rise to new routes. Mass cargo diversions from west to east earned traders fat margins as Asian markets commanded steep price premiums, partly driven by Japan's scramble to replace lost nuclear output. Waning Asian demand, major new supply from nearby Australia and converging global LNG prices are all putting a stop to long-haul diversions. At $0.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu)…
LNG Could Follow Crude Oil's Lead: Russell
In contrast to the carnage in crude oil markets, liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices in Asia have enjoyed relative stability for the past three months, but it's unlikely the calm will persist much longer. Spot Asian LNG prices <LNG-AS> ended last week at $5.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), about 28 percent below the recent peak of $7.80 reached on Nov. 22. In contrast, Brent crude oil has dropped 46 percent from its recent peak in early October to trade currently around $28.55 a barrel. The relative outperformance of spot LNG holds over the longer term as well…
ARENA Boosts 22 Mega Solar Projects
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) today announced the short-list of projects invited to progress to the next stage of its $100 million large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) competitive round. ARENA CEO, Ivor Frischknecht, said the expression of interest (EOI) phase had attracted strong interest, including several new entrants to the market, and the overall quality of proposals was high. “ARENA received 77 eligible EOIs and has selected 22 high merit projects to proceed to the full application stage with submissions due by 15 June 2016,” Mr Frischknecht said. “The projects are located in all mainland states and have a total capacity of 766 megawatts (MW).
Senecio-3 Flow Test Update
AWE Limited as the Operator of the L1/L2 joint venture, provides the following update on the flow testing program at the Senecio-3 well, in the onshore Perth Basin, Western Australia. The testing program is designed to determine well deliverability from two reservoir zones in the Waitsia gas discovery and to collect gas samples for compositional analysis. The first stage of the testing program commenced on 18 February and focused on the lesser quality, deeper secondary target, the High Cliff Sandstone. A 5 metre interval (3,254m – 3,259m) was perforated without stimulation and the well was flowed twice over a 77 hour period.
Shell-BG deal May Shake up Rival's Australian LNG Plans
Tightening gas supplies in eastern Australia and a battle for gas to supply three liquefied natural gas plants will figure largely in watchdogs' review of Royal Dutch Shell's $70 billion takeover of BG Group. The deal may help break a deadlock over coal seam gas owned by Shell's Arrow Energy in Australia, which has been stuck in the ground after it scrapped plans to build an LNG plant in Queensland and entered talks to supply other LNG plants there. Shell hopes Australia's competition and foreign takeovers watchdogs will take that into account when weighing the potential benefits to the economy and consumers in the eastern states…
Beach Begins Gas Supply to Origin Energy
Long term gas sales agreement with Origin Energy Retail Limited (“Origin”) has been initiated for delivery of up to 139 PJ of sales gas over an initial eight year term Beach Energy Limited is transitioning to separate lifting and marketing of its equity share of sales gas from the SACB and SWQ JVs. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Delhi Petroleum Pty Ltd, Beach entered a long term sales gas agreement with Origin for a minimum eight year period commencing 1 July 2015. Beach is pleased to advise that deliveries of sales gas under the Long Term GSA commenced today.
