Industry News

APPEA welcomed comments today from the Minister for Energy and the Environment, Josh Frydenberg, confirming the importance of a pragmatic, bipartisan approach to energy policy.

“APPEA strongly supports co-ordinated action by all governments to provide long-term policy certainty to the energy market.  Politicians across the spectrum need to put aside entrenched positions to agree a practical way forward so investors can return to the market,” said APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts.

“The National Energy Guarantee offers an opportunity to cut emissions without jeopardizing reliable supply.  This is a tough balancing act but Australian customers need both cleaner energy and reliable energy.

“APPEA strongly supports the Minister’s call for State governments to address the pressure on gas supply and prices by lifting their restrictions on developing local gas reserves.  Gas is pivotal to ensuring energy security, its on-call supply an ideal complement to intermittent renewable sources.

“Gas will also contribute to lowering emissions from the generation sector.

“The meeting of energy Ministers later this month is an opportunity which should be seized by all governments to end the division and confusion around energy policy.”

Source: APPEA

Leading the way with organisation name change to reflect industry trends and innovation

Petroleum Club NT, an industry networking organisation previously focused on oil and gas businesses, has formally changed its name to Energy Club NT as voted by a meeting of members on 28 February 2018.

The change will open the remit for the organisation to add alternative energy to the mix and continue to focus on delivering a premium networking platform for the various sub-sectors in the energy industry and provide education and information sharing opportunities for businesses with an interest in the Northern Territory.

“Hydrocarbons will continue to play an important role in energy production, but the industry has showed a significant trend in adding alternative energy sources to the mix. The advantage of integrating new technologies will also have a positive effect on reducing carbon emissions, costs and creating new and unprecedented opportunities.” said Ms Harvey, Chief Executive Officer of Energy Club NT.

“There is a clear movement in the industry for collaboration across the energy sub-sectors which will continue to become more prevalent as we move towards our energy future.” said Ms Harvey.

“Renewables and oil and gas projects can coexist and provide innovative solutions across the industry. The expansion for Energy Club NT also aligns with the Norther Territory Government’s 50% Renewable Energy target by 2030 opening opportunities for investment and business growth in the region.” Ms Harvey went on to say.

“We remain committed to delivering our services to the oil and gas sector and look forward to welcoming new members from alternative sub-sectors to our organisation.” she said.

The incorporation change has been approved to take effect from 28 March 2018.

Petroleum Club NT was established in 2015 and has been very successful engaging membership across a diverse demographic of stakeholders and businesses in the oil and gas industry. The organisation will continue to provide opportunities for networking, education and information sharing for the industry in Northern Territory bringing businesses together to support a sustainable energy future.

Download a copy of the media release here.

Australian Energy Week is set to be the most important event in 2018 for all stakeholders in the future of the energy industry, from generation right through to end use.

Australian Energy Week is the annual meeting place for stakeholders of all levels from the entire energy supply chain. From CEOs to new graduates, energy traders to engineers. And everyone in between.

It’s where you can network with over 500 of your peers and hear from more industry leaders than any other event, representing every corner of the market.

You can choose from 6 different content streams, 4 in-depth learning sessions as well as all-new technical roundtables. So no matter what your role or interest in the sector, Energy Week will be relevant to you.

http://www.energyweek.com.au/

The Independent Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory (the Inquiry) released its Final Report today. Read the full update.

The Independent Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing of Onshore Unconventional Reservoirs in the Northern Territory (Inquiry) presented its Final Report (Final Report) to the Northern Territory Government today.

The Final Report comprises three separate documents: the Final Report (Book 1); the Appendices (Book 2); and the Executive Summary (Book 3). The Final Report contains 135 recommendations.

The Final Report represents the culmination of 15 months’ of work by the Inquiry, during which time the Panel:

• met 12 times;
• held 52 community forums, including 37 in regional and remote areas, and 15 in urban centres;
• conducted 151 public hearings;
• published 31 Community Updates; and
• received 1257 submissions.

The Chair of the Inquiry, Justice Rachel Pepper, said “this Report provides recommendations to mitigate to acceptable levels the identified risks associated with any onshore shale gas development in the NT if the Government lifts the moratorium.”

“No industry is without risk, and any onshore shale gas industry is no exception. However, it is the Panel’s opinion, expressed in the Final Report, that if all of the recommendations are implemented, the identified risks associated with any onshore shale gas industry can be mitigated or reduced to an acceptable level, and in some cases, the risks can be eliminated.”

Justice Pepper said that while the Inquiry’s scope was broader than that of previous inquiries into unconventional gas in the Northern Territory, the Inquiry nevertheless built upon the previous bodies of work. In addition, this Inquiry had a mandate to consult widely, unlike previous inquiries and reviews.

“The Inquiry has taken its mandate to consult widely very seriously through its stakeholder engagement, live-streamed public hearings and community forums, held throughout the Territory.”

Justice Pepper said the Panel has made findings and recommendations in its Final Report based on the best most recent and relevant available evidence, which included the views of the community expressed during the consultation process.

In addition to strengthening many of the recommendations made in the Draft Final Report, the Final Report includes:

• an implementation Chapter, which states clearly that all of the recommendations in the Final Report must be implemented;
• greater clarity on the timing of the implementation of the recommendations; and
• the inclusion of a requirement that there be no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions in Australia as a consequence of the development of any onshore shale gas industry in the Northern Territory.

In releasing the Final Report, her Honour emphasised that it was not the role of the Inquiry to recommend whether or not the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the Northern Territory be lifted.

“Today the Inquiry delivered its Final Report to the Government and in doing so fulfilled its Terms of Reference. The decision whether or not to retain the ban on hydraulic fracturing in the Northern Territory is a political decision that rests with the Government alone.”

Justice Pepper thanked the people of the Northern Territory for their enthusiastic engagement with the Inquiry. She also thanked the Taskforce supporting the Inquiry for their considerable assistance.

The Inquiry’s Final Report is available to download at www.frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au

AUSTRALIA’S largest brewer Carton & United Breweries (CUB) has signed a 12-year power purchase agreement for 74,000 megawatt hours per year of solar energy for its manufacturing plants.

German company BayWa will provide the power from its 112MW Karadoc solar farm in Mildura, Victoria, which is currently under construction by Melbourne-based Beon Energy Solutions. 

 BayWa has already constructed a 4km grid connection for the plant. 

CUB CEO Jan Craps hailed the deal as significant step toward its vision of securing 100% of its electricity from renewables. 

"As one of Australia's first and leading manufacturing businesses, we have a responsibility to ensure we play our part in tackling climate change and a range of environmental challenges," Craps said.  

CUB is also moving toward onsite solar generation, which will see solar panels on the roofs at each of its breweries, and says it is Yatala brewery is a world leader in water efficiency. 

Craps said the investment with BayWA also stacked up economically, with CUB now expected to pay a reduced price to power its operations. 

"Moving to renewable energy will ensure that we have certainty of supply and pricing, something that is incredibly important for a manufacturing business like ours."

CUB sites will remain connected to the grid, allowing excess capacity to be fed back into the system.

CUB are a supporting partner of Energy Club NT.

ConocoPhillips and Santos are pushing ahead with their $500 million plan to develop the Barossa gas field off Australia's north coast to replace declining supplies for Darwin LNG, with Santos declaring that Sunrise gas has "virtually no chance" of being processed there despite this week's milestone treaty with Timor-Leste.

The treaty, signed in New York on Tuesday US time, only allows for gas from the Sunrise field to be processed in either Conoco's Darwin LNG plant or at a new LNG plant in Timor-Leste, which the Sunrise partners have always ruled out as too risky.

But Conoco and its partners in the Barossa venture, Santos and Korea's SK Group, are resolved on Barossa gas as the lead candidate to replace the declining gas from the Bayu-Undan offshore field to supply Darwin LNG, with the field to be empty by 2022-23.

Santos, which also owns a stake in Darwin LNG, believes without doubt that Barossa is "the only field that can provide certainty on backfill for DLNG and deliver gas when DLNG will need it in the early 2020s," said Bruce Clement, head of conventional oil & gas.

"As one of the owners of DLNG, we want that certainty and we want to know that gas is definitely on the way to keep that plant full as Bayu-Undan comes off plateau," Mr Clement said.

Read more here in the Financial Review.

Follow: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook

The signing of a landmark sea boundary treaty between Australia and Timor-Leste is set to revive stalled discussions over the lucrative Sunrise gas project, but operator Woodside Petroleum immediately signalled that the tough work on agreeing how to develop the resource is still to come.

Woodside said it is "disappointing" the conciliation process over boundaries and Sunrise failed to strike a deal on the development design after the treaty apparently ruled out its favoured option of a floating LNG plant.

The treaty, signed in New York on Wednesday Australian time by senior ministers of the two nations, represents a major shake-up in the administration of oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea.

It will do away with the long-standing Joint Petroleum Development Area, a region jointly administered between the two nations, shifting resources in that area wholly into Timor-Leste territory.

But most significantly for Woodside, the terms of the deal only cover two onshore options – either Timor-Leste or Darwin – for processing the 5.13 trillion cubic feet of gas from the large Sunrise field. The venture, in which Shell and ConocoPhillips are major partners, also involves about 226 million barrels of oil-like condensates.

The idea of offshore processing through a circa $US13 billion ($16.6 billion) floating LNG plant, the concept most recently favoured by Woodside, is not covered in the treaty nor in the Permanent Court of Arbitration's conciliation agreement. The treaty was agreed after a long-running dispute on sea boundaries between the two nations which forced the Sunrise partners to put their project on the back burner several years ago.

Read more here.

Follow: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook

Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said Wednesday that climate change is the biggest issue facing the energy sector, encouraging the European oil major to invest more in cleaner-burning gas and renewable energy.

Shell aims to cut its carbon footprint in half by 2050 while shifting its roughly 50-50 oil and gas balance to a portfolio that's closer to 70 percent gas, van Beurden said at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston. Shell already is the world's leader in liquefied natural gas.

"There's no other issue with the potential to disrupt our industry on such a deep and fundamental level," van Beurden said of climate change and the need to help meet the Paris climate accord goals, even though the United States plans to split from the agreement under the Trump administration.

The emphasis goes beyond making Shell's own operations cleaner and more efficient because most of the emissions come from Shell's products after they are sold. So Shell intends to invest more in offshore wind farms, biofuels, carbon capture projects and the planting of trees and forests.

Read more here

View NAB Trade video interview with Kevin Gallagher here.

PCNT members held a special resolution meeting lat night prior to the February Industry dinner. Member unanimously agreed for an organisation name change to Energy Club NT to reflect the change in industry trends and language and also open the Club's remit to include alternative energy generation, transmission and supply.

An exciting change for the new year with more details to be announced once the administration of changes has been approved.