Mitsui Looks to Sell BassGas Stake
Japan's Mitsui & Co has put its 40% stake in the BassGas project off southeastern Australia up for sale, the company said on Thursday.Mitsui's stake in the BassGas project, which includes the undeveloped Trefoil gas project, could be worth about A$360 million ($244 million), according to Credit Suisse. However, a person with knowledge of the asset estimated it at about A$140 million.Mitsui Australia's spokesman said Rothschild has been engaged to advise on the sale of the stake, which Mitsui acquired with its takeover of oil and gas producer AWE last year.
ExxonMobil Looks to Sell Australian Assets
Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it was looking to sell its 50% stake in the Gippsland Basin oil and gas development in Australia's Bass Strait as part of a broader review of its global portfolio of assets.The sale could fetch up to $3 billion, however decommissioning costs for the ageing fields could dent the price tag, analysts and bankers said.The Gippsland Basin joint venture, off the state of Victoria, has long been the mainstay oil and gas supplier for southeastern Australia,…
AGL LNG Import Project Slowed by Environment Review
Plans by Australia's AGL Energy to start importing liquefied natural gas from 2021 will be delayed after the state of Victoria called for the company and its pipeline partner to submit a full environmental assessment of their project.The review process typically takes nine to 12 months, which means AGL will not be able to reach a final investment decision on the A$250 million ($178 million) jetty project by June 2019, as it had hoped.AGL had been on track to be the first of four proposed…
Plans for Another South Australia LNG Import Plant in the Works
A private firm is looking to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to South Australia starting in 2020, around the same time as two other proposed import projects, looking to fill a supply gap as domestic gas gets sucked into LNG exports.Venice Energy, set up by former BHP Billiton executives, plans to submit a development application to the South Australian government within the next month to park a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Port Adelaide, Managing Director Kym Winter-Dewhirst said.If regulatory approvals come through by March…
ExxonMobil Considers Importing LNG to Australia
ExxonMobil Corp, southeastern Australia's biggest gas supplier, is considering importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to help plug a looming gas shortage from 2021 and protect its market share.The move would compete with plans by both Australia's no.2 energy retailer AGL Energy to start importing LNG by 2021 and a consortium involving Japan's JERA to start imports from 2020.ExxonMobil is also stepping up exploration off the coast of Victoria and considering developing a gas field called West Barracouta close to an existing field…
Australia in Talks With Gas Majors to Avert Local Shortage
Australian PM in crisis talks with gas majors; Australia faces gas shortage despite exports soaring. Australia's top gas producers, led by ExxonMobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell, agreed to boost supply to the country's domestic market to help avert an energy shortage following crisis talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Australia is on track to become the world's largest exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG), yet its energy market operator has warned of a domestic gas crunch from 2019 that could trigger industry supply cuts and broad power outages. "We are a massive gas exporter.
Glencore to Restart Australia Coal Mine as Prices Surge
Glencore said on Tuesday it would restart a coking coal mine in southeastern Australia that was shuttered more than two years ago, with a resurgence in prices for the commodity breathing new life into the sector. Less than a year after the coal industry was declared to be in terminal decline, markets for coal used to generate power and make steel have surged - boosted by moves in China to mine less of its own coal and import more. Glencore acquired the underground Integra mine, formally called Glennies Creek, in 2015 after it was mothballed by then owner Vale of Brazil.
