Coronavirus, Consolidation Taking Toll On Energy Jobs
Oil and gas companies worldwide are taking an axe to their employment rolls, shedding workers to survive what is expected to be a prolonged stretch of weak demand.Exxon Mobil Corp said it will cut its workforce by 15%, or about 14,000 people, along with oil majors Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.All told, more than 400,000 oil and gas sector jobs have been cut this year, according to Rystad Energy, with about half of those in the United States, where several big exploration companies and most large oil service companies are headquartered.Coronavirus has devastated swathes of the global economy…
Woodside's Revenue Slumps More than Expected
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd reported a worse-than-feared 29% drop in quarterly revenue, hit by weak spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, but said it still expected to book a net profit in the first half.The hit came due to the double whammy of a global gas glut and a slump in demand with the coronavirus pandemic, and sent the company's shares down more than 2% while its peers were all trading higher."It's been a very difficult time for our industry and some external challenges are just simply beyond our control…
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.
Woodside Finalizes Gas Deal with Uniper
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Tuesday it has signed an agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to German utility Uniper SE for 13 years starting 2021.Under the agreement, Woodside said it would initially supply up to 0.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of LNG, which could increase to 1 Mtpa from 2025.However, supply from 2025 remains conditional upon a final investment decision related to the company's Scarborough project off northwestern Australia.Woodside is looking to develop Scarborough to feed a new 5 Mtpa production unit, called a train, at its Pluto LNG plant in Western A
Woodside Targets Scarborough FID in Early 2020
Woodside Petroleum Ltd has pushed out the final approval date for its mammoth Browse gas project but slightly brought forward plans to sign off on its smaller Scarborough project as it races to fill an anticipated global supply gap.Woodside, Australia's top independent gas producer, said on Thursday it is now targeting a final investment decision on the $20.5 billion Browse project in the first half of 2021 as it continues to wrangle with its partners. It had previously expected approval in late 2020.However…
Woodside Q2 Revenue Slides 32%
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd reported a 32% drop in second-quarter revenue on Thursday, the first decline in six quarters, as it was hit by an extension of planned maintenance at its Pluto liquefied natural gas facility and weaker prices.The country's largest listed oil and gas explorer said production for the quarter ended June 30 fell to 17.3 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), from 22.1 mmboe a year earlier. The latest quarter production figure was above Citi estimates of 16.33 mmboe.Sales fell to $738 million from $1.08 billion…
Woodside Q1 Revenue Rises 4%
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd on Thursday posted a 4 percent rise in first-quarter revenue on higher realized prices for its oil and gas.Revenue rose to $1.22 billion for the three-months ended March 31, compared to $1.17 billion a year ago.Australia's largest listed oil and gas explorer said total production for the quarter came in at 21.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), down from 22.2 mmboe a year earlier.The average realized price for the quarter ending March 31 rose to $56 per boe from $51 per boe a year ago.The Wheatstone venture, run by Chevron Corp and in which Woodside has a 13 percen
Woodside Raises Dividend
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd surprised investors with a fat dividend on Thursday after reporting a 36-percent percent rise in annual profit, underpinned by stronger oil prices.The higher-than-expected payout came after shareholders stumped up $2.5 billion to buy new shares a year ago at a time when Australia's biggest independent oil and gas producer expected oil prices to average $65 a barrel.By the end of the year it was flush with cash as oil prices had averaged $71 and the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project…
Woodside Boosts Spending for Next Leg of Growth
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd on Thursday flagged higher-than-expected investment spending for 2019 as it steps up early work on the two big natural gas developments that will drive its growth in the next decade.Australia's largest independent gas and oil producer plans to spend between $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion in 2019 on projects, significantly higher than an estimate from UBS of $1.2 billion.At the same time it is roughly halving exploration spending from $273 million last year."The…
Woodside Inks 20-year Gas Supply Deal
Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Australia's biggest listed oil and gas explorer, said on Tuesday it had signed a 20-year gas supply deal with Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers Pty Ltd.The agreement is to supply about 125 TJ of gas per day for use in Perdaman's proposed urea plant, and gas will be primarily sourced from Woodside's proposed Scarborough development, the company said in a statement.The agreement follows a memorandum of understanding between the companies signed in April."This is a significant domestic gas sale and represents another step towards the delivery of the proposed Burrup Hub," said Woodside C
Woodside Petroleum Half-year Profit Rises
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Wednesday that its first-half net profit rose 6 percent and it raised its 2018 production outlook after strong performances from its Wheatstone and Pluto LNG projects.For the 2018 fiscal year, Woodside said it now expects fiscal 2018 production between to 87 mmboe to 91 mmboe from an earlier outlook of 85 mmboe to 90 mmboe.Production costs per barrel of oil equivalent across all operating assets for 2018 are expected to be between $5.50 and $5.80…
Woodside Mulls Texas Sempra LNG Exit
The chief executive officer of Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Tuesday that Australia's biggest independent oil and natural gas company will soon decide whether to continue to invest in Sempra Energy's Port Arthur liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Texas. "We've got to make some decisions pretty soon about our continued pursuit (of Port Arthur) with Sempra," said Coleman, noting that Woodside has been paying part of the project's development costs. "What we've been doing is just paying our way (with Port Arthur)…
Cheniere Mulls Third Liquefaction Train at Corpus Christi
U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Cheniere Energy Inc said it planned to make a final investment decision to build the third liquefaction train at its Corpus Christi LNG export facility in Texas in the first half of 2018:Cheniere said on Friday its Cheniere Corpus Christi Holdings LLC subsidiary engaged financial institutions to arrange up to $6.4 billion of credit facilities. The unit already has about $4.6 billion of existing credit facilities.Cheniere said it will use the credit facilities to fund a portion of the costs of developing…
Shell Sells Out of Woodside Petroleum for $2.7 Bln
Royal Dutch Shell on Monday sold its entire stake in Australia's largest independent oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum Ltd for $2.7 billion as it pushes ahead with its vast disposal programme. Shell, which has been slowly divesting its Woodside holding, initially said its Shell Energy Holdings Australia Limited (SEHAL) unit had struck a deal with two investment banks to sell 71.6 million Woodside shares for A$31.10 ($23.79) apiece. Several hours later, the Anglo-Dutch company said in another statement that "following strong demand from institutional investors…
Oil Price Plunge Delivers Mixed Results for Australia
The plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 will lift airline profitability, ease pressure on mining companies, perk up retailers, but strain the oil and gas sector, Moody's Investors Service said in its analytical report "Low Oil Price Will Lift Airline Profitability; Pressure Oil and Gas Producers" authored by Maurice O'Connell and Matthew Moore, both Moody's Vice Presidents. "The benchmark Brent crude price plunge will boost Australian airlines' profitability, cash flows and credit metrics into 2016, but the mining sector will benefit to a lesser degree," O'Connell said.
Woodside to Issue Corporate Bonds
Woodside has entered into an agreement for the issuance of US$1 billion in corporate bonds into the United States 144A bond market. Settlement of the offering is subject to certain customary conditions. The bonds will be issued by Woodside Finance Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, and will consist of US$1 billion of 10 year bonds with a coupon of 3.65%. The bonds will be guaranteed by Woodside Petroleum Ltd and its wholly owned subsidiary, Woodside Energy Ltd. expenditure program.
Spain Gives Go-ahead to Canary Islands Drilling
Spain's Supreme Court approved on Tuesday a $7-billion oil exploration project off the Canary Islands, clearing one of the final hurdles for oil company Repsol to begin drilling within months. In 2012, Spain's government granted permits for hydrocarbon exploration off the coasts of the Fuerteventura and Lanzarote islands, but they were frozen while courts decided on a number of appeals on environmental grounds. Of the seven appeals against drilling rejected by the Supreme Court, one was from the local Canary Island government, which initially supported the project but then turned against it.
Talisman to Sell Stakes in Two Australian Offshore Fields
Talisman Energy Inc said on Wednesday it plans to sell its stakes in two oilfields in the Timor Sea off the coast of Australia as Canada's No.5 independent oil producer continues to restructure its global petroleum properties. The company is looking to sell its 40 percent stake in the Corallina and its one-third stake in the Laminaria fields, whose production averaged under 6,000 barrels per day last year, a small fraction of the 373,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day that Talisman averaged over 2013. The two oilfields are operated by Woodside Petroleum Ltd.
Woodside Blocks Shell Shares Buyback
Buyback fails to win 75 percent support; Shell left with 13.6 pct stake in Woodside. Woodside opposes buyback to all shareholders on same terms, shares fall 1.8 pct. Woodside Petroleum Ltd failed to win shareholder approval to buy back $2.68 billion of its shares from Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Australia's top oil and gas company said after a vote on Friday. Defeat of the buyback leaves Shell holding a 14 percent stake in Woodside that it intends to sell, which will continue to weigh on the Australian company's shares, an overhang Woodside was trying to remove.
Australian LNG Deals Impacted by Price Drop
Scarborough floating LNG project seen at risk; planned LNG projects hurt by near-50 pct fall in Asia LNG prices. Planned Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, including the costly Scarborough floating vessel, are at risk as sinking energy prices make investments unviable, analysts said. A nearly 50 percent slump in Asian LNG prices <LNG-AS> this year has pressured any project without a Final Investment Decision (FID). Just last week, Woodside Petroleum Ltd delayed the FID for its $40 billion Browse floating project with Royal Dutch Shell and BP.
