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  • 02 Oct 2019 2:53 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    ASX-listed GR Engineering has flagged a hit to annual profits following news that Northern Oil & Gas Australia has gone into voluntary administration.

    Nearly a fortnight ago administrators were appointed to Northern Oil and its associated subsidiaries TOGA Services and Timor Sea Oil & Gas Australia.

    The company's administration came just months after its Northern Endeavour FPSO in the Timor Sea was shut down by the federal regulator over safety and environmental concerns.

    GR's wholly owned subsidiary, Upstream Production Solutions, is the contracted operator of the Northern Endeavour FPSO.

    Yesterday, GR told the market it had conducted "extensive discussions" with the administrators of Northern Oil and assessed its exposure at more than $17 million.

    "GR Engineering's assessment of the group's exposure to the [Northern Oil] contract is circa $17.4 million representing receivables and work in progress ($15.9 million) and the finalisation of commitments to vendors and suppliers ($1.5 million)," GR said in a statement.

    The administrators have agreed to pay GR costs for services from the date Northern Oil was placed into administration, subject to funding from a secured lender.

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 01 Oct 2019 2:55 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    Empire also advised it has received ministerial consent for its 2D seismic program in the Northern Territory in permit EP187 and expects acquisition to begin soon. 

    "We have established a solid foundation for growth in the McArthur and Beetaloo Basins," he said.

    It expects final Territory approvals for its work program soon, it said this morning. It will be the first junior to recommence on the ground operations in the area, though unlike Santos and Origin is not close to spudding a well.

    "Government approvals for drilling operations are proceeding well," it said.

    "Empire anticipates it will have all necessary approvals to commence exploration drilling by the commencement of the 2020 dry season, or in the second quarter of next year."

    Empire holds 14.5 million acres in the McArthur and Beetaloo Sub-basins

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 30 Sep 2019 2:57 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    THE South Australian government has approved Australian Gas Infrastructure Group subsidiary  Australian Gas Networks’ development application for the construction and operation of a A$11.4 million renewable hydrogen production facility.  

    he planned facility will be located at the Tonsley Innovation District to the south of capital Adelaide.  

    The planned Hydrogen Park SA (HyP SA) will be producing from the middle of next year.  

    "This is a significant milestone in South Australia's continuing transition to a cleaner energy future. It propels the State's status as a leader in renewable technology and a first mover in hydrogen," AGIG CEO Ben Wilson said.  

    "At HyP SA we will be building a 1.25MW electrolyser as the first Australian demonstration project of its scale and size, with small quantities of renewable hydrogen produced and blended into the local gas distribution network next year."  

    He said by next year residents in Adelaide's Mitchell Park would be using gas with 5% hydrogen added to the mix.  

    The state government has thrown $4.9 million to the project via its Renewable Technology Fund. 

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 27 Sep 2019 3:03 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    SANTOS and ConocoPhillips have awarded a major contract for the development of the Barossa gas field to Allseas Groups for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the 260 kilometre gas export pipeline. 

    The project area encompasses petroleum permit NT/RL5 located in Commonwealth waters offshore Northern Territory.   

    Barossa, which will go as backfill to the Darwin LNG once the Bayu Undan field depletes early next decade, is currently in its front-end engineering and development phase before final investment decision.  

    Development will include a floating production storage and offloading vessel, subsea production system and a gas export pipeline, which will tie into the Bayu Undan-to-Darwin pipeline.  

    "This is another big step towards Barossa FID and follows the award of the subsea production system and installation support contract in May," Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said.  

    "Evaluation of tenders for the FPSO and development drilling contracts is well progressed."

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 27 Sep 2019 3:01 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    SINGAPORE-based junior Jadestone Energy has completed a major capital project, installing new subsea umbilical cables across the Montara oilfield, offshore Western Australia in the Timor Sea.

    The AIM-listed midcap producer noted that the replacement umbilical installation project was identified by the previous operator of the Montara field as a "high priority."

    The umbilicals are an integral part of the deepwater control system on the field, providing electrical power and control signals to the subsea well heads.

    The project was conducted using the DOF Subsea Skandi Hercules vessel, which was mobilised from Singapore in August.

    The installation project was previously identified by the former operator PTTEP as a "high priority," however work was deferred until Jadestone completed its acquisition of the field and formally became operator.

    Jadestone was formally awarded operatorship for the Montara field in July, but had effectively operated the field since acquiring it from PTTEP last year. 

    Jadestone CEO Paul Blakeley said the major project was completed on budget and without incident.

    "Early on, we recognised the need to replace the control link to the Montara subsea wells, and this was done as soon as possible, following acceptance of Jadestone's safety case for Montara," Blakeley said.

    "I think of this as a one-off maintenance project, and having it completed now will provide greater confidence in our ability to deliver guidance volumes from Montara."

    Since acquiring the field last year, the Montara field has delivered record cash for Jadestone, turning the company from loss to profit in a 12 month period.

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 27 Sep 2019 2:59 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    NEXT week marks Timor-Leste’s inaugural oil and gas conference, which Energy News will cover from Dili. 

    The event comes just after the nation's independence 20th anniversary when Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison travelled to capital Dili to sign the Marine Border Treaty into effect, effectively allowing development of both the Greater Sunrise and Buffalo fields.  

    The summit runs October 3 and 4 and will be sponsored by SundaGas and hosted by petroleum authority ANPM.  

    This is the first time the body will be sharing on- and offshore updates for the region's leading oilers and new opportunities for smaller producers.  

    National oiler Timor Gap will discuss its plans for Timor-Leste and the wider industry. 

    "With more exploration and production projects on the way, the need for

    new partners is higher than ever," it said.  

    The nation's most senior ministers and oil company executives will speak, as will Carnarvon Petroleum COO Phil Huizenga and Timor Resources Suellen Osborne. 

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 26 Sep 2019 2:54 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    THE Northern Territory follows Western Australia in record export figures driven largely by a ramp up of new LNG projects in the year. 

    The government has recorded its highest-ever international export figures to 2019 with a balance of A$8.1 billion or a 111.5% increase on the previous year thanks in large part to Inpex's LNG exports from its Darwin plant which drove 70% of the balance, it said.  

    "Resources, live export and the commencement of LNG export from the Inpex site which commenced in 2018 top the Territory's major export list," it said this morning. 

    The Northern Territory has recorded a surplus each year for a decade thanks to energy and minerals in large part. 

    In 2018-19, the NT's total value of goods exported increased by 65.5%, a rise of $3.8 billion to $9.5 billion, in current prices, driven by "significant" rises in exports to Japan, China and Taiwan. 

    Japan is the Top End's biggest export destination taking 44.6% of all exports, followed by China at 27.4% and Taiwan at 5.9%. All three import significant quantities of LNG, with Japan's Inpex sending a large number of cargoes to the nation. 

    As LNG is considered a "confidential" item actual figures were not released by the government.  

    "Almost doubling our international trade balance is a huge outcome for the Northern Territory, for the economy and for jobs," Minister for Primary Industry and Resources Paul Kirby said.  

    "The Territory export economy has a bright future and figures like these reinforce the importance of our export market for jobs and the economy. 

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

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  • 26 Sep 2019 2:52 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)
    Methane monitoring in the Beetaloo Sub-basin – Final Report 

    Independent baseline measurement and monitoring of landscape methane emissions in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin was completed in February 2019 by CSIRO’S Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA), with the final report now available online.

    This baseline monitoring was conducted in accordance with recommendation 9.3 from the Scientific Inquiry into
    Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory’s Final Report.

    The Northern Territory Government commissioned CSIRO GISERA to complete three mobile survey campaigns over a six-month period between July 2018 and February 2019, capturing both the wet and dry seasons. These surveys were conducted across all exploration permits in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, involving all the pastoral leases in this area.

    The surveys showed that the majority of the methane concentrations recorded were within the average range, with isolated pockets of slightly elevated levels mostly attributable to grazing cattle.

    The vehicle surveys covered approximately 15,000 kilometres on roads and tracks over a cumulative total of 29 days.

    Average atmospheric methane concentration across the survey area ranged from 1.80 to 1.82 parts per million – equivalent to the background concentration of approximately 1.80 ppm expected in rural or natural areas.

    Each survey observed isolated sources of slightly elevated methane concentrations in some areas; identified to be attributed to grazing cattle, townships, fires, termites, wetlands and a small section of above-ground pipeline.

    No elevated methane concentrations were detected at the 11 plugged and abandoned or suspended petroleum wells, or 21 water bores that were specifically investigated. 

    An additional four water bores had slightly elevated concentrations, however, each bore had hundreds of cattle within close proximity, acknowledged to be a contributing factor to the slightly elevated concentration.

    This demonstrates that plugged and abandoned petroleum wells are not ‘leaky’ and have been undertaken in a manner that is safe, not detrimental to the environment and in accordance with legislation and well operations’ standards.

    Results of these studies are important for delivering on the recommendations of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory.

    Individual reports are available for each of the three surveys produced, in addition to the final report, and can be viewed on the GISERA website

    Read CSIRO’s GISERA media release: CSIRO’s GISERA completes baseline studies in Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Sub-basin

    To read the latest from the NTG Newsroom, please visit NTG Newsroom

    To read the Implementation Plan or access additional information, please visit hydraulicfracturing.nt.gov.au

    To read the Inquiry report and recommendations, please visit frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au

    Or you can contact the Hydraulic Fracturing Inquiry Implementation Taskforce at hydraulic.fracturing@nt.gov.au 
     
     


  • 25 Sep 2019 3:13 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    JUST two months after Ireland’s government killed off a piece of legislation aimed at banning offshore oil and gas exploration and production, Ireland’s head of government Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivered a speech at the UN Climate Summit in New York pledging to phase out oil exploration.

    During his speech, the Irish prime minster said the Irish independent Climate Change Advisory Council had recommended exploration for oil should end, "as it is incompatible with a low carbon future," and the government would no longer issue exploration licenses.

    "I accept this advice and Ireland will now act on it," Varadkar said.

    Under the government's plans exploration licenses already awarded will be unaffected until 2035. However future oil exploration permits will no longer be granted in the majority of offshore Ireland.

    "In practice, and initially, it means a moratorium on exploration in 80% of our waters," he said.

    While oil exploration will be affected, gas exploration will be encouraged.

    "[The CCAC] recommended that exploration for natural gas should continue for now, as a transition fuel that we will need for decades to come while alternatives are developed and fully deployed," Varadkar said. 

    The speech flies in the face of the government's position just months ago, when the government said banning oil and gas would only increase the need to rely on importing resources.

    Varadkar said he wants Ireland to be known as a "green country" that will "act on the climate and environmental challenges facing our planet".

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

    Read more here

  • 25 Sep 2019 3:07 PM | Sonia Harvey (Administrator)

    TIMOR Resources will drill Timor-Leste’s first onshore well in almost 50 years in January 2020.

    The company has commissioned Eastern Drilling to mobilise a rig to Timor-Leste, according to a company statement.  

    The country has not had an onshore drilling campaign since 1972, when the Portuguese still controlled the country.  

    In 2017, the privately-listed Timor Resources won the rights to explore and develop 2,000 square kilometres of onshore acreage on Timor Leste's south coast and holds two production sharing contracts via joint venture with state-owned Timor Gap.  

    The first well, Karau, at a depth 1,080 meters, will target the Viqueque formation, with the company expecting approximately 430 meters of gross reservoir interval, which is known to be oil bearing in the near surface from evidence of the oil seeps.  

    "This play type is proven in the Bula field on the Isle of Seram where 20 million barrels of oil have been recovered," Timor Resources general manager Jan Hulse said.  

    "The Timor Resources drilling campaign targets four different play types, maximizing the chance of commercial discovery.  

    The deepest well in the five well campaign is 2,740 meters and targets the Triassic Jurassic Formation, according Hulse. 

    Source: Energy News Bulletin

    Read more here

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