ANZ's shares plunged 50c to $16.41 after a broking report yesterday warned investors about the exposure to El Paso. An ANZ spokesman said the bank had monitored developments in the US energy sector very closely for the past year and said recent developments were not unexpected.
El Paso has a 30% stake in the owner of the Dampier-to-Bunbury gas pipeline, Epic Energy, currently in a major dispute with the WA Office of Gas Regulation over tariff charges. Epic has claimed it needs more than the rate laid down by the office to make a commercial return on its $2.4 billion investment in the pipeline. El Paso has threatened to quit Australia over the dispute.
