Download Issue 131 - January/February 2010 - SPE WA

2009 Retrospective2009 RetrospectiveSPEAustraliaSPEAustraliaIssue 121January/February 2009ISSN 1449-8545◆ NZ ◆ PNGNEWSA look back at2009Australia, New Zealand and PNG SectionsSPEAustraliaSPEAustraliaIssue 121January/February 2009ISSN 1449-8545◆ NZ ◆ PNGNEWSNEWLOOK2009 was another busy year for SPE News,which was there every step of the way to coverdevelopments in the petroleum industry.The year began in subdued fashion, the collectivehangover from 2008’s fi nancial meltdownlingering into the early months. Ophir EnergyManaging Director Alan Stein was bleak in hisassessment of the state of play in theJanuary/February edition:“Exploration will be cut back this year. Productionrevenue will be down. Companies will be lookingto protect their margins. The pure explorers willbe struggling to fi nd cash.”Indeed, the state of play was bleak. Oil hadopened the year at around $40 bbl, havingfallen from mid-2008 highs of close to $140 bbl.As we noted in March, shares in some of theworld’s largest oil companies, including Shell, BP,ExxonMobil, Total and Chevron had fallen morethan a third from their peak in May 2008.Amid the doom and gloom, Sun ResourcesManaging Director Matthew Battrick put thedownturn into some perspective:“All ends of the market in terms of producingcrude are suffering at a low oil price. Havingsaid that, the oil price is twice today what it wasfor most of my 28-year career in the industry onaverage. So, it is certainly going to be profi tableto produce oil, onshore at least.”Despite the crunch, negotiations on North WestShelf development continued, with WesternAustralian Premier Colin Barnett, stung by thedecision of Inpex to pipe its Browse Basin gas toDarwin for processing, set on the development ofa Kimberley LNG hub.“WA appears to have lost one major projectto Darwin because the previous LaborGovernment could not make a decision tosecure the $15 B Inpex project. I do not intendto lose another”, Barnett declared uponannouncement the state was prepared toproceed with the compulsory acquisition ofland if agreement could not be reached withAboriginal groups.Elsewhere in WA, Latent Petroleum continued toassess the commerciality of its tight gas reservesin the Warro fi eld in the Perth Basin.“I am sure that tight gas can make a veryimportant contribution to WA’s energy needs”,Latent Petroleum Managing Director StephenKeenihan observed in SPE’s May edition. “Theindustry has long recognised that there aresizeable gas reserves (up to 12 Tcf) held in tightgas reservoirs in the state, particularly in thePerth Basin.”Indeed, in the wake of the Varanus Islandincident, energy diversity and security was afocus for the new Coalition Government whichestablished a review of WA’s gas network.Australia, New Zealand and PNG SectionsAustralia, New Zealand and PNG SectionsAustralia, New Zealand and PNG SectionsAustralia, New Zealand and PNG SectionsSPEAustraliaSPEAustraliaIssue 123April 2009ISSN 1449-8545◆ NZ ◆ PNGNEWSSPEAustraliaSPEAustraliaIssue 124 123April May 2009ISSN 1449-8545◆ NZ ◆ PNGNEWSSPEAustraliaSPEAustraliaIssue 125June 2009ISSN 1449-8545◆ NZ ◆ PNGNEWS8SPE NEWS January/February 2010www.spe.org