LNG investment to slow dramatically, says Bernstein
Bernstein Research says some Australian liquefied natural gas projects would never have been given the go-ahead in the current low oil price environment and will be uncompetitive unless prices recover, according to the Australian Financial Review.
The plummeting oil price has dragged the prices for LNG down to $US9 per thousand standard cubic feet (mscf), Bernstein said. Given the lag of several months between LNG prices and oil prices, LNG prices could fall further and test $US8 per mscf, creating a “problem” for the industry given the high fixed costs and prices required to generate a return on investment, the Wall Street broker said in a report.
EPA clears AGL and Transpacific over Hunter wastewater shipments
The NSW Environment Protection Authority has found AGL and its contractor Transpacific Industries were not in breach of pollution licence conditions despite ignoring demands they avoid discharging water from fracked coal seam gas wells into Hunter Water's sewage network, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The destination of 600,000 litres of the so-called flowback water containing chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing only came to light after an anti-CSG activist pursued two Transpacific tankers from Gloucester near the mid-north coast of NSW down to Newcastle. Before that, AGL had not disclosed publicly where it planned to dispose of water from its four pilot gas wells in the region.
Skilled rejects Programmed Maintenance merger bid
Labour hire and recruitment firm Skilled Group has rejected a merger proposal from rival Programmed Maintenance Services, arguing that the offer undervalues the company and overstates the industrial logic of a combination, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Programmed made its “merger of equals” proposal on December 17, offering 0.5032 Programmed shares and 25c for every Skilled share.
On Thursday, Skilled dismissed the approach, despite agreeing that bringing the two businesses together would achieve around $20 million in annual cost savings.
