Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Low oil prices tipped to hurt Australia’s GDP (English)
Source: AAP, 14 September 2015
Weaker oil prices are expected to be a double-edged sword for Australia by weakening overall economic growth but providing a boost to household spending. A CBA analyst believes the lower price will shave 0.5% from the country’s GDP. However, the negative impact will be offset by lower inflation, with lower fuel prices to boost household spending and energy-demanding businesses to benefit from reduced costs.
SA nuclear energy impractical (English)
Source: AAP, 14 September 2015
Most of Australia could be powered completely by renewable energy by 2030, making nuclear redundant, an environmental policy expert, Dr Mark Diesendorf, from UNSW, has told a nuclear energy royal commission in Adelaide. He believes that solar and wind energies are a cheaper and more viable alternative than nuclear power. Additionally, he stated that it would take 15 years to build the first nuclear power station by which time South Australia would be 75% powered by solar power.
Woodside woos Oil Search (English)
Source: newsbase.com, 09 September 2015
Woodside Petroleum has offered to acquire fellow Australian explorer Oil Search through an all-share offer worth $11.6 billion AUD ($8.16 billion USD). An Oil Search report said 52 cargoes had been loaded in the first 6 months from PNG LNG, with production at around 7.1 million tons per year. Woodside stated that the approach was in line with its strategy of maximising the value of core assets, leveraging capabilities and growing their portfolio.
Will Chinese MNCs lose their money by investing in bankrupt Northern Australian iron mines? (Chinese)
Source: Southcn.com, 15 September 2015
According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, ShangDong Iron Group have signed a contract with IronRoad Corporation worth $4 billion AUD, in order to jointly develop a new mining program. As Chinese iron ore producers typically sit higher on the cost curve, this move by ShanDong looks like an attempt to leverage Australian iron ore production capability and lower costs of production. CEIP, a program of IronRoad, will include mining and logistics plans conducting for the next 25 years.
Alarm on Australian supply (English)
Source: newsbase.com, 10 September 2015
Weak oil prices pose a major risk to Australia’s upcoming LNG projects, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said last week. The six projects already under construction will struggle to break even and three still in the planning stage will likely be scrapped, it warned. According to a senior gas expert, even if oil prices recover to average US$60 per barrel over the next few years, Australia’s huge LNG industry will find it difficult to turn a profit.
This brief summarises a range of publicly available news articles in both Chinese and English and AustCham takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information in these articles. In addition, the views and opinions reflected in these articles are not necessarily representative of AustCham’ stance.
For more details on how to get involved in the AustCham Beijing Energy Working Group, please contact Andrew Britz.
Write a Comment