Page 7 - AsianOil Week 32
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AsianOil SOUTH ASIA AsianOil
funding limit of INR100bn ($1.34bn) through Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural
commercial paper. Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has acknowledged
“We live in an era of sub-optimal oil prices the challenges facing the upstream sector, saying
and government-mandated natural gas prices in June that the country would begin transition-
that are way below the cost,” another official said. ing towards market pricing. When this will come
Under India’s current gas pricing system, the into effect remains to be seen.
central government sets prices for local pro- PTI quoted another an ONGC source
duction every six months using the weighted as saying the company had booked a
average price of gas in hubs in the US, Canada, INR48.99bn ($656.6mn) impairment in
the UK and Russia. New Delhi slashed prices the January-March quarter in preparation
for conventional gas production to $2.39 per for future low oil and gas prices. However,
mmBtu ($66.11 per 1,000 cubic metres) for the ONGC intends to reverse the impairment
six months from April 1. when energy prices recover.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Indonesia taps Eni to replace Chevron in IDD
FINANCE & NEPTUNE Energy is reportedly the latest party field Bayu-Undan and its wholly owned
INVESTMENT to express interest in buying Italian major Eni’s Blacktip natural gas field and attached
Australian oil and gas portfolio. Yelcherr processing plant. Eni also owns
Neptune will join Macquarie Capital and stakes in four exploration licences, includ-
Beach Energy as frontrunners in the chase to ing the Joint Petroleum Development Area
secure the assets, local daily The Australian in the Timor Sea and the undeveloped Evans
reported on August 6, noting that other poten- Shoal gas field, which could be a potential
tial suitors included Santos, Cooper Energy and backfill for Darwin LNG.
a range of infrastructure investors. Reports emerged in May that the Italian
Eni’s prized assets include a 10.99% stake major wanted to sell its Australian assets to
in Darwin LNG and the plant’s feedstock raise cash amid the coronavirus (COVID-
19) driven global economic downturn,
which has seen international oil and gas
prices collapse.
Eni is understood to be working with invest-
ment bank Citi on the sale, which will be held
over two rounds and is expected to raise an esti-
mated $700-900mn. Blacktip is understood to
account for the bulk of this valuation, given that
the field has a long-term gas supply agreement
with domestic buyers.
The field’s attraction lies in its long-term
supply contract, which helps to insulate it from
global oil and gas price volatility. At the same
time, however, The Australian said industry
observers viewed Eni’s 15-year supply contract
with the Northern Territory government-owned
Power and Water Corp. as having limited upside,
which could make growing earnings a more
challenging prospect.
Australia’s upstream sector is going
through a shake-up amid the collapse in oil
prices earlier this year, with developers rein-
ing in capital expenditure. However, with the
industry having just gone through a painful
period of write-downs, investors are once
more looking for acquisition opportunities.
Woodside said this week that it was looking
for suitable targets now that the worst was
likely over for the sector.
Week 32 13•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7
