FILE PHOTOS: Exxon sign seen at a gas station on the outskirts of Chicago in Norridge, Illinois, USA, October 27, 2016. REUTERS / Jim Young
SYDNEY (Reuters) – ExxonMobil has canceled a potential sale of its multi-billion dollar oil and gas assets in Australia’s Bass Strait, according to the Australian Financial Review.
The decision by major US oil companies comes just six weeks after the deadline for indicative bids for the portfolio set by JPMorgan advisers.
“After completing an extensive market evaluation, ExxonMobil has decided to retain its Australian-operated Gippsland Basin production assets,” a spokesman for ExxonMobil Australia’s local affiliate Esso was quoted as saying by AFR.
He hinted that the sales process had not yielded sufficiently attractive offers, AFR reported.
An ExxonMobil spokesman could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM.N urged the Australian government to start providing assistance to the country’s refineries in January following last week’s decision by BP plc BP.L to shut down the nation’s largest refinery.
FILE PHOTOS: Exxon sign seen at a gas station on the outskirts of Chicago, Norridge, Illinois, USA, October 27, 2016. REUTERS / Jim Young / Photo File / Photo File
Exxon has Australia’s oldest refinery at Altona near Melbourne, which can process 90,000 barrels of oil per day, the smallest of the nation’s four refineries. The site supplies about half of the fuel for the state of Victoria, which has been hit by one of the world’s longest and most stringent coronavirus lockdowns.
Exxon said the prolonged lockdown “has put unprecedented pressure” on Altona, causing the plant to suffer losses.
The Victorian government last week relaxed restrictions restricting people to the 5 km (3 mile) zone around their homes and allowed shops and restaurants to reopen for the first time since August 2.
The Australian Government is in talks with the refining industry about offering A $ 2.3 billion ($ 1.6 billion) of incentives over 10 years to keep refineries open to support national fuel security.
The two other refiners in the country, Viva Energy VEA.AX and Ampol ALD.AX, are considering closing their refinery.
Exxon said the proposed six-month time frame for talks with the government was “too long given the short-term challenges faced by all refineries” and was working with refining industry groups and the government to get the first part of fuel safety. package released in January 2021.
The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) said the government should take over BP’s plant in Kwinana, Western Australia, the only refinery on the west coast, to prevent fuel supply disruptions.
“More than 90 percent of Australia’s liquid fuel has already arrived via foreign-owned and operated tankers, but that figure will only increase if the Kwinana refinery is allowed to close,” MUA Assistant National Secretary Ian Bray said in a statement.
($ 1 = 1.4259 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Sonali Paul; Edited by Christian Schmollinger
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Petrobras Brazil posted unexpected losses thanks to non-recurring fiscal costs, even as operating income was supported by a recovery in fuel sales and oil revenues.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras oil company is seen at their headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 16, 2019. REUTERS / Sergio Moraes / File Photo
In Wednesday’s securities filing, Petroleo Brasileiro SA PETR4.SA, the official title of the state-owned oil company, recorded a third-quarter loss of 1.546 billion reais ($ 275 million). Income before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted for one-time items, was 33.4 billion reais, above Refinitiv’s estimate of 29.7 billion reais.
Among the one-time charges the company highlighted were a 1.9 billion reais payment to two state governments to settle unpaid tax disputes, as well as a significant bond buyback program. The decline in the Brazilian real against the US dollar helped amplify some of the losses, the company added.
Petrobras said that, excluding one-time items, the company will post a net profit of 3.2 billion reais, beating Refinitiv’s estimate of 736 million reais.
Among the positives for the company is significant sales growth, especially gasoline and diesel. Net revenue was 70.7 billion reais in the quarter, up 39% from the previous period.
“The recovery in sales of diesel and gasoline is prominent,” the company said. “These products were severely affected by COVID-19 in the second quarter and the recovery is the strongest in our portfolio, both in terms of volume and price.”
Crude oil exports to China – which have skyrocketed in recent quarters as production increased as the worst pandemic passed – slowed to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, exports to other markets such as the United States, Spain and Indonesia have grown significantly since the second quarter.
Even Chinese demand may have recovered later in the quarter.
Brazil jumped to become China’s third-largest crude supplier in September, import data showed on Sunday, as independent Chinese refiners scooped up cheap supplies of relatively high-quality South American exporter oil.
Petrobras said that average production costs fell from $ 7.90 per barrel of oil equivalent in the second quarter to $ 4.50 in the third, thanks in part to increased efficiency and partly due to real depreciation.
($ 1 = 5.62 reais)
Reporting by Gram Slattery and Sabrina Valle; Edited by Christian Plumb and Sam Holmes
SAO PAULO, October 26 (Reuters) – Brazilian energy company Cosan SA said on Monday its subsidiary Compass Gas e Energia had made a bid for a 51% stake in state-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA in Gaspetro.
Cosan did not disclose details of the size of Kompas’ bid for Gaspetro Petrobras shares, due to the competitive nature of the tender process. Petrobras, which is trying to divest its stake in the energy sector, put its stake on the market in late February. Japan’s Mitsui holds another 49% stake in Gaspetro.
Last month, Cosan said it would cancel the planned initial public offering of Compass Gas e Energia, the country’s largest natural gas distributor, due to market conditions. (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, written by Gabriel Stargardter, editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Chris Reese)
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Ampol Ltd ALD.AX is considering closing the Lytton refinery, one of four Australian refineries, as it has suffered heavy losses due to falling fuel demand driven by the coronavirus and competition from large Asian factories.
Ampol, formerly known as Caltex Australia, was able to shut down Lytton despite a recent A $ 2.3 billion ($ 1.6 billion) offer from the Australian government incentives to the industry to keep the country’s refineries open for national security.
Ampol shares rose as much as 2.3% after marking the refinery review, outpacing gains in the broader market .AXJO.
“We really appreciate the government acknowledging with the proposed package the challenges facing the refining sector, … but we have to be realistic about the extreme structural stresses facing Lytton,” Ampol Chief Executive Matt Halliday said in an interview.
Ampol on Thursday reported an A $ 141 million loss at the factory so far this year, worse than analyst expectations.
“The demolition of demand and oversupply that we have seen … presents very challenging margin prospects,” Halliday told Reuters.
“That is on top of the pressure we face in an international context. Refinery (Australia) is relatively small and relatively old. “
Ampol said it would review the future of the Lytton plant, located in the state of Queensland, in the second quarter of 2021, considering whether to close it, turning it into a fuel import terminal as it did with the Kurnell refinery in 2014, continuing existing operations or piloting a model. another operation.
“Lytton’s larger-than-expected loss for Q3 reflects a combination of weak refining margins and the structural aspects of its relatively high fixed cost base,” said RBC analysts in a note.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said in emailed comments that the government is working with Ampol and industry on its fuel safety package.
Analysts expect Ampol, which fended off a takeover offer earlier this year, shutting down Lytton to boost profits.
Rival Viva Energy Group Ltd VEA.AX last month it also warned it would close its refinery in Geelong, near Melbourne.
Reporting by Sonali Paul; Additional reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin
