Article on Shell interest in IOC. Note this line:
"“Our plans for organic investment of around $32 billion in 2012 and medium-term financial and production growth are on track.”
Hohoho my Antelope has an "organic investment" in the leeetle Zebra
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Shell confirms talks with InterOil |
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Marija Stojkovic
Friday, 27 July 2012
AMID months of speculation, oil major Shell has confirmed it is in talks with InterOil about taking a stake in its Gulf LNG project in Papua New Guinea.
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Royal Dutch Shell CFO Simon Henry. |
In a second-quarter earnings conference call, Shell chief financial officer Simon Henry said the company had been in discussions with various companies in PNG, adding that Shell had been speaking with “Interoil over quite some period of time”.
InterOil began a formal process to find a suitable LNG operator for the project last October.
Since then it had received interest from the Far East Consortium, comprising Korean Gas Corporation, Japan Petroleum Exploration Company and InterOil’s condensate stripping plant project partner Mitsui.
Shell, along with US major Chevron, has also been thrown into the mix.
State-owned Gulf LNG project partner Petromin and the former PNG government had both supported Shell as their preferred candidate.
Shell has a strategic alliance with the government’s state nominee for the Gulf LNG project, Petromin.
As of last year, the Gulf LNG project was targeting 5 million tonnes per annum in 2014, with 3MMtpa from an Energy World Corporation-designed onshore modular LNG plant in Gulf province and the rest from a floating LNG facility.
There is also a proposed ramp-up aiming to hit up to 8MMtpa from the total project through 2015 and 2016.
Back in 2009, the project was based on a 7.6-10.6MMtpa LNG plant near Port Moresby.
All project plans are based on commercialising InterOil’s Elk-Antelope discoveries in PNG’s Gulf.
Meanwhile, the supermajor has reported a 25% drop in Q2 earnings compared to the same time last year due to weaker oil and gas prices.
Earnings for the quarter reached $US6 billion compared to $8 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
Shell said the drop in Q2 earnings was due to weaker oil and North American gas prices offsetting higher production and improved refining margins.
“Our industry continues to see significant energy price volatility as a result of economic and political developments,” Shell chief executive officer Peter Voser said.
“Our profits have fallen with energy prices but our growth strategy is delivering to the bottom line.
“Shell is implementing a long-term consistent strategy against this volatile backdrop.
“Our plans for organic investment of around $32 billion in 2012 and medium-term financial and production growth are on track.”
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