Australia is preparing to review its gas market, which could affect LNG exports
Australia will soon issue a review of the gas market that could limit exports from its east coast. Three operators, led by Shell and Santos, send cargoes to Asia. They said that the review, which they expect Canberra to release this week, may 'include a plan for LNG exporters to prioritize local supply in the populous east, the main source of domestic demand. Tony Wood, energy analyst at Melbourne's Grattan Institute, said that the government is trying to solve a difficult problem. They want the domestic and international markets to be able access gas at a reasonable price.
Australia's APA joins Queensland in building Brigalow Power Station
The APA Group, an Australian company, announced on Monday that it had agreed to build the 400-megawatt Brigalow Peaking Power Station in Queensland proposed by CS Energy. According to a research note by RBC Capital Markets, this is the first major GPG investment made by APA in a long time. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2028, next to CS Energy’s Kogan Creek facility. It was designed to stabilize supply during times of high demand or intermittent renewable output. APA will fund the project early and will eventually acquire 80% by mid-2026. CS Energy will maintain a 20% stake in the plant and will operate it.
ConocoPhillips finds gas off Australia
ConocoPhillips, the oil giant, announced on Monday that it had discovered gas off of the coasts of southeast Australia. The company began its first exploration drilling in November. Two targets located off the coasts of Victoria were identified by wireline logs. The work will continue for another two weeks, before the second exploration well is drilled to confirm that there are large gas reserves in Australia's east-coast market. Jan-Arne Johannsen, the country president of the company, said that the discovery was encouraging, and it was the first to be made in the area in four years. The U.S.
AGL sells most of its Tilt stakes to QIC Future Fund for $487 Million
AGL Energy, Australia has agreed to sell 19,9% of its 20% stake to Tilt Renewables' clean energy developer for A$750m ($487.35m) to vehicles led Queensland Investment Corp and Australia's sovereign Future Fund. The goal is to free up capital that can be invested in fast-starting energy projects and batteries, which will support the grid if renewable production drops. AGL shares rose 2.8% in early trading to A$9.17, a new one-week high. This outperformed a slight 0.2% increase in the benchmark index. Tilt Australia was formed when Powering Australian Renewables…
ConocoPhillips launches natural gas drilling offshore eastern Australia
ConocoPhillips, a U.S.-based independent company, has begun drilling its first exploration hole as part of a larger campaign to search for natural gas off the eastern Australian coast, 3D Energi its junior partner said on Monday. 3D Energi announced in a filing with the ASX that work began on the Essington-1 oil well over the weekend. It will take 32 days for the drilling to reach 2,650 metres (8.694 feet). The company stated that this is the first well in the Otway Exploration Drilling Program for the development of new gas for Australia’s eastern domestic market.
Origin Energy, Australia, reports a 12% decline in APLNG revenue for the first quarter.
Origin Energy, Australia's largest energy company, reported a 12% drop in revenue from its Australia Pacific LNG stake for the first three months of the year. The fall was attributed to lower LNG prices and volumes. The power producer reported revenues from the APLNG joint venture -- a joint project with U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips, and China's State-owned Sinopec — of A$482 ($313.20) million for the three-month period ended September 30 compared to A$547 in the previous quarter. Prices for liquefied natural gases fell to multi-week lows during the third quarter due to a lackluster demand in Asia…
EDP accelerates solar and battery projects in Australia following government awards
The Portuguese utility EDP said that it expects to speed up its solar and storage battery projects in Australia, after receiving government awards for revenue generation over the long term. EDP Renewables Australia, a subsidiary of EDP, was awarded two generation revenue schemes through the government's Capacity Investment Scheme. These projects will add over 1.7 gigawatts to the energy mix in Australia by adding solar and battery storage. EDP anticipates that the Punchs Creek Project located in Toowoomba, Queensland will reach financial close in 2026. The plant is expected to be commissioned in early 2029.
Wall Street Journal, October 8,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said that it would invest as much as $2 billion in Polymarket. This deal values the popular crypto-based predictions market at approximately $8 billion. It is a vote of confidence for the growth prospects of the platform. California has passed tougher rules to prevent corporate investors, such as private equity firms, from interfering in healthcare decisions.
Australia announces $395 Million to Support Glencore Copper Smelter
Australia announced on Wednesday that it would provide A$600,000,000 ($395,000,000) in financial support to Glencore's Mount Isa Copper Smelter in Queensland and Townsville Refinery over the next three-year period. The bailout will be split 50-50 by the federal and Queensland governments. This comes amid increasing concerns about supply chain vulnerability tied to China, which have increased pressure on Western countries to secure access critical minerals for energy transition and defense. Glencore is to receive up to $200m in payments over the next 3 years.
Australia's renewables drive powers a 'golden rush' of big battery bets
Investors in Australia’s battery energy storage industry are taking advantage of the chaos on the spot markets. They have been emboldened by Australia’s efforts to expand its renewable energy infrastructure. Investors in the sector are now funding projects that do not have a fully-guaranteed long-term revenue. The first two battery projects exposed to the market this year were funded. As the demand for renewable energy grows, analysts say that more flexible financing will make money available in this sector.
Andy Home: A quiet revolution is taking place in the mining industry
If the world wants to move away from fossil fuels, it will need to have a large amount of copper. Can the mining industry meet this demand? The challenges are enormous. The challenges are huge. The mining process has been highly wasteful and polluting in the past. According to a research paper from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute, the world discovered 650 million metric tonnes of copper between 1910-2010 but only 100 million tons made it to the market. The metal in the tailings ponds is still there, waiting for the right technology to unlock its potential.
Origin Energy's APLNG revenues in the fourth quarter fell as lower LNG prices weighed.
Origin Energy, Australia, reported a sequential 6% decline in revenue for the fourth quarter from its stakes in Australia Pacific LNG project (APLNG), as lower commodity prices weighed down on earnings. Origin faced pricing pressure during the second quarter of the year as China, the country's largest trade partner and major LNG consumer, showed a tepid growth in demand. Natural gas imports were also below last year's level due to the ongoing economic problems. The company realized $10.26 for every metric million British Thermal Units (mmBtu)…
Glencore asks government for help after claiming that the copper smelter in Australia is unviable
Glencore said that its Mount Isa copper-smelter is unviable, and it's waiting for the response to its requests from the state and federal governments in order to keep this facility open despite tough global conditions. The UK-listed company has been alarming local media regarding its Mount Isa Smelting Business in Queensland State as its mining operations will close next month. The company will have to purchase copper concentrates to process once global processing costs are at historic lows due to excess global smelting capacities.
Amazon will invest $13 billion over 5 years in Australia's Data Center Infrastructure
Amazon announced in a Saturday blog post that it will invest A$20 Billion ($12.97 Billion) between 2025 and 2029 in Australia to expand, maintain, and operate its data center infrastructure. This investment is expected to boost the country's artificial-intelligence capabilities. Amazon has made its largest technology investment in Australia. The funding will be used to support new server capacity, as well as generative AI workloads. It added that the company will also invest in three new solar farm in Victoria and Queensland. The three farms will have a combined power of over 170 megawatts.
Origin Energy Australia reports a 10% decline in revenue for Q3 due to lower APLNG prices
Origin Energy reported a 10% decline in revenue from its Australia Pacific LNG Project (APLNG), as falling LNG prices and lower LNG volumes impacted the top line. Since the beginning of 2025, prices of liquefied natural gases have been under pressure due to a tepid winter season in Asia. This has been exacerbated by fears of a global economic recession following President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Origin realized $11.31 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu), for its LNG from the APLNG Project in Queensland. This compares to $12.20 in the second quarter.
Wood Mackenzie warns that Australia will not meet its renewable energy target.
Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, said that Australia will fall well short of its target to generate 82% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, due to state-level rollbacks and grid connection delays, as well as inadequate investment. Australia is one of the most polluting countries in the world per capita because it produces coal-powered electricity. It has plans to close all coal-fired power stations by 2038. The center-left Labor Government, reelected in the first week of this month, said that it would transition to a grid powered by wind and solar with gas, hydropower, and energy storage as backup.
Origin Energy's profit exceeds expectations on the back of strong LNG earnings
Origin Energy, an Australian power company, beat analysts' expectations on Thursday. This was due to higher LNG sales and gains from LNG trading. These factors offset a sharp drop at the energy markets division. Origin Energy, along with AGL Energy and Energy Australia as one of Australia's "Big Three" retailers of electricity, will spend A$1.5 billion to A$1.7 billion between fiscal 2025 and the majority of that money will go towards building storage batteries. Frank Calabria, Chief Executive Officer of Origin said: "Origin delivered a solid first-half performance...
Gas giants claim that Australia's opposition plan to reserve supplies may worsen the shortage
Gas giants around the world said that a proposal made by Australia's coalition of opposition to force producers to divert more gas from exports into the domestic market in an attempt to win votes would discourage investment and not solve the looming gas shortages. The conservative Liberal-National Coalition has pledged to lower power bills by implementing a gas reservations scheme. The center-left Labor government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has introduced a cap on wholesale gas prices for 2022 and implemented other regulatory measures and policies to reduce emissions and meet domestic energy requirements.
Glencore asks Australian Government to bail out local copper assets
Anglo-Swiss commodities company Glencore has said it has spoken to both Queensland and the Federal Government of Australia regarding the future of the Mount Isa Copper Smelter and Townville Copper Refinery assets. Glencore announced in October 2023 that its Mount Isa underground copper mines would be closed by the second half 2025. They cited studies and reviews which stated it was impossible to extend the mine's life. Sam Strohmayr said in a speech to Mount Isa local communities on Wednesday that the impact of the work is expected to be around 500 people.
Origin profits hit by Australia Pacific LNG price reduction for Sinopec
Origin Energy announced on Friday that Australia Pacific LNG had agreed to reduce the price of liquefied gas sold to Sinopec in China for the remaining ten years of their contract. Origin stated that the agreement was reached after a price review of their 20-year contract, out to 2035. "This has resulted in an improvement in the JCC-linked contracts slope, effective as of 1 January 2025," Origin added. The slope is the percentage of Japan Crude Cocktail benchmark prices to which LNG prices are linked. Origin said that the price reduction would reduce its earnings before interest…