Wall Street Journal, Dec 19,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Woodside and Chevron announced they would streamline their oil and gas operations throughout Western Australia by announcing a stake exchange deal. This move will result in the Australian energy company exiting the $34 Billion Wheatstone LNG Project. The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the pharmacy chain CVS for filling illegal prescriptions of opioids and billing federal insurance programs. This is contributing to an epidemic of opioid overdose and addiction across the country.
BHP and Rio Tinto will build a low-carbon iron plant in Western Australia
BHP Australia and Rio Tinto Australia will develop together a pilot plant for producing low-carbon iron using Pilbara ore as part of their efforts to accelerate decarbonisation within the steel industry. The companies announced this in a statement released on Tuesday. The facility will produce molten steel using direct reduced iron technology (DRI), and renewable energy in an electric melting furnace (ESF). It could have a production of up to 40,000 tons per year. BlueScope Steel will develop the facility in Western Australia's Kwinana Industrial Hub.
Chevron Australia signss long-term gas supply agreement with Alcoa
The Australian unit of U.S. oil company Chevron said Tuesday that it will supply 130 petajoules (petajoules) of gas over a period of 10 years, starting in 2028, to the aluminium manufacturer Alcoa. Chevron Australia announced in a press release that the gas would be supplied by its 530 terajoules per day Gorgon and Wheatstone plants, and North West Shelf Venture, located in Western Australia. Alcoa, on the other hand, said that it would use this gas to power its refineries for alumina in Western Australia. Alcoa signed gas supply agreements with Chevron in 2020…
Australia sues Exxon for falsely representing its local petrol brand
The Australian Competition Watchdog announced on Tuesday that it had taken Exxon Mobil’s local brand affiliate, which sells fuel at six of their branded petrol stations throughout Queensland, to court. Exxon Mobil, an American oil and gas company, owns and operates the Mobil brand. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges that Mobil misrepresented that "Mobil Synergy", its "Mobil Synergy", contained certain additives when it didn't. ACCC said that the firm also incorrectly claimed the fuel sold in these petrol stations was of a higher quality or composition than fuel sold at other locations, and had certain additional benefits.
Banks assist in the recovery of Australian shares; energy and miners lag behind
The Australian share market ended its five-day loss streak on Tuesday, as gains in the banking sector outweighed losses in mining and energy stocks. Investors around the world pondered whether U.S. policy will ease beyond this week. By 2335 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2% to 8264.9. The benchmark index ended Monday 0.6% lower. The Financials subindex topped the benchmark index by 0.4%. Shares of the "Big Four banks" rose between 0.2% to 0.4%. While metal prices are falling, miners have lost 0.5%. BHP Group Rio Tinto Fortescue all suffered losses between 0.4% to 1.1%.
Karoon Energy, Australia's energy company, reduces its outlook for Brazil project
Karoon Energy, an Australian oil and gas company, said that it has reduced the production forecast for its Bauna Project in Brazil because of operational disruptions. After the disruptions, the company reduced its production forecast for 2024 for the Bauna Project to 7.2-7.4 millions barrels of crude oil. The previous outlook was 7.5-7.7million barrels. Karoon reported that two of the 16 chains used to lift the floating production storage offloading system (FPSO) failed. This caused the Bauna Project to be shut down in December 11.
Woodside, a company from Australia, signs a deal with Bechtel for the development of Louisiana LNG.
Woodside Energy Group, an Australian company, announced on Thursday that it had signed a contract for engineering procurement and construction with Bechtel in the United States to develop liquefied gas project in Louisiana. The EPC contract covers the development of the foundations for the three production trains in the project, which have a combined capacity of 16,5 million tons per year. The oil and natural gas producer stated that they aim to make a final investment decision by the first quarter 2025. Woodside released a…
HMC Capital, based in Australia, will buy Neoen’s Victoria portfolio at a price of $612 million
HMC Capital, an Australian asset manager, announced on Thursday that it would buy the renewable energy generation portfolio and storage in Victoria from France-based Neoen for A$950,000,000 ($611.61million). HMC stated that the portfolio will be a great addition to their energy transition platform. It includes four operational assets, each with a capacity of 652 megawatts (MW), and six development assets, with a combined capacity of over 2,800 MW. The deal will increase HMC's Assets Under Management (AUM) from A$17 billion to A$19.3 billion. It is expected that the deal will be positive for earnings after FY26.
Anglo sells Australian coal mines for up to $3.78 billion to Peabody
Anglo American agreed on Monday to sell the remaining Australian steelmaking mines to Peabody Energy, for up to $3.78 Billion in cash. This is its first large disposal under a restructuring plan. After fending off BHP Group's $49 billion bid in May, the mining giant has reshaped its business to focus mainly on iron ore and copper. The London-listed company is hoping that the sale will satisfy investors and deter unwanted suitors. Anglo American released a statement that the cash consideration agreed upon by Peabody included an upfront payment at completion of $2.05 Billion…
Australia proposes tax incentives for critical mineral deposits
The Australian government will introduce legislation on Monday to implement production tax incentive for renewable hydrogen and essential minerals. This could help boost investment in this sector, which can play a key role in energy transformation plans. The government announced that the proposed law would establish a tax incentive of 10% on the relevant processing and refinement costs for 31 essential minerals, from the fiscal years ending in June 2028 until the fiscal years 2039-40, up to ten year per project. The planned…
Albanese: Australia and India will boost their cooperation in renewables and defence
Australia and India will work together to increase investment in renewable energies, such as solar manufacturing, batteries, and mineral processing. This was the announcement made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a G20 meeting on the sidelines. Albanese, the Australian Minister for Defence and Maritime Security, said that Australia and India would also like to increase their defence and maritime cooperation. He made this statement during a Tuesday meeting in Rio de Janeiro with India's PM Narendra Modi. These two countries are part of the Quad along with Japan and the United States.
Euro Oil Giants Rethink Renewable Balance
Almost five years ago, BP embarked on an ambitious attempt to transform itself from an oil company into a business focused on low-carbon power. The British company is now trying to return to its roots as a big oil and gas player with a growth story to match rivals, revive its share price and allay investor concerns over future profits.Rivals Shell and Norway's state-controlled Equinor are also scaling back energy transition plans set out earlier this decade. Their change of direction reflects two major developments - the energy shock from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a drop in profitability for many renewables projects…
Australia may lose $45 bln amid green steel rush, report says
A think tank on Friday said that Australia, the world's largest iron ore exporter, could lose up to half of its revenues from this sector if it does not produce green iron quickly enough. Other countries are now making steel with renewable energy. Australia's largest export is iron ore, but progress in developing green-iron has been slow. According to a Climate Energy Finance report, Australia could lose around A$69 Billion ($45 Billion) in revenue each year as global steelmakers, including those in China, decarbonise and restructure supply chains.
Vulcan Energy, a company listed in Australia, receives $106 million funding from the German Ministry
Vulcan Energy Resources, an Australian company, announced on Tuesday that it received funding of 100 million euros (106.42 millions dollars) from the German Economy Ministry for its renewable energy facility in Landau in Germany. The Vulcan HEAT4LANDAU Project is a project to generate renewable geothermal heating to support Landau’s transition to sustainable district heating starting in 2026. The project is a part of Vulcan’s Phase One Lionheart Project. This project aims to increase Europe's supply chain for green lithium by strengthening the capacity of 24,000 metric tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year.
Inpex: Ichthys LNG Train 1 will resume full-scale operation in December
Inpex Corp, the operator of Australia's Ichthys LNG, said that Train 1 will resume full-scale operation at the start of December. This follows a reduction in its operating rate for inspections. In order to maintain safety, the Inpex spokesperson said that "Ichthys LNG Train 1" is currently operating at a slightly lower production level in order to inspect heat exchangers. In November and December, we expect approximately 10 LNG cargo shipments each month. Inpex announced in September that it would reduce the rate of operation of Train 1 to 70%, as part of preventive measures.
Australia's HESTA puts MinRes's governance problems on a watchlist; Moody's lowers outlook
HESTA, an Australian superannuation funds said that it had placed Mineral Resources in its watch list on Friday. It cited disappointment at the company's lack of response to issues surrounding billionaire founder Chris Ellison. As of 0055 GMT, shares of the company had fallen as much as 2,5% to A$40.610. Since the MinRes internal investigation concluded on Monday, over 7% of market value has been wiped off by this news. The diversified miner announced earlier this week that its founder and managing director Chris Ellison would…
Australia suffers wide losses when central bank keeps rate at 12-year high
The Australian share market continued to decline on Tuesday, after the central bank maintained the key policy rate in a 12-year-high level. This was done in order to maintain a restrictive policy until the core inflation rate is brought under control. By 0352 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 0.4% to 8,131.4. The benchmark index was trading at a 0.3% decline ahead of the policy announcement. The benchmark closed Monday 0.6% higher. In line with the poll, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), kept its interest rate at the same level. It reiterated that restrictive policy was needed until core inflation decreased as desired.
Mitsubishi Japan expects LNG production to reach 17 million tonnes per year by early 2030
Mitsubishi, a Japanese trading company, expects to see its LNG production capacity grow by over 17 million tonnes per year in the early 2030s. This is due to its stakes including projects in Malaysia and Canada. Mitsubishi has invested in 12 LNG projects with a total production capacity of 110,4 million tons per annum in Brunei Malaysia Australia Oman Russia Indonesia USA Canada. This was revealed in a presentation on earnings by the company. LNG Canada will ship its first cargo in mid-2020, but all other projects produce gas. Mitsubishi will be able to produce 14 million tons of LNG per year, up from the current 12 million tons.
Woodside and Tokyo Gas discuss stake in US LNG Project
Tokyo Gas and Woodside Energy are in discussions about a possible stake in the multi-billion dollar Louisiana LNG export project. Two people familiar with these talks confirm this. Woodside, a major Australian oil and natural gas company, closed a deal this month to buy Tellurian Inc., a developer that had put itself up for sale after running out of money while building a U.S. Gulf Coast plant capable of converting shale-gas into LNG at a rate of 27,7 million tons annually. Tokyo Gas Natural Resources, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's biggest gas and electricity utility, is in talks to acquire a stake in the project.
J-Power, a Japanese gas-power company, will sell its stake to a US gas-power company
J-Power, a subsidiary of Japan's Electric Power Development, announced on Thursday that it had decided to sell its 50 percent stake in an American gas-fired energy company as part a reshuffle to its asset portfolio. This was done to increase capital efficiency. ACR IV Frontier Holdings, an investment fund, will purchase the Japanese utility's stake in Tenaska Frontier Partners, which operates a gas-fired 830 megawatt (MW), power station in Texas, for $155 millions. J-Power is expecting to book $93,000,000 in investment income after the transfer.
