One good example is the "thanks for coming to the table" bonus Timor gets if the floating LNG plan for Sunrise gets the go-ahead. It's been reported that the fledging nation will get, courtesy of the Aussie taxpayer, at least $US250 million over 25 years on top of the royalties it will receive for the joint development area that includes 20% of Sunrise.
While the process may have been less than perfect, the treaty's conclusion should pave the way for oil and gas projects worth an estimated $50 billion, including a $25 billion gas deal that partners in the Bayu-Undan field have secured with Japanese power utilities. This is an amount equivalent amount to the much-heralded deal struck between the North West Shelf and China last year.
With its share price at three-year lows, Woodside got some much needed good news. Firstly, investors responded positively to the Timor Treaty, in particular to a clause that quarantines commercial arrangements against changes in maritime boundaries. Secondly, the North West Shelf signed up another Japanese customer for a long-term LNG agreement. Tohoku Electric will take delivery of 400,000 tonnes of LNG a year over a 15-year period starting in 2005.
It was another big week for companies reporting half-year results. As you would expect. Some were good, some were bad and others were positively ugly. Australia's largest energy retailer, AGL, lit up the bourse with a $190 million half-year net profit thanks to strong performances from its core businesses and revenue from the recently acquired Pulse Energy.
Riding on the back of increasing oil production from the onshore Perth Basin Hovea field, Arc Energy posted a $2.2 million profit for the December, a 1500% increase on the same period in 2001.
Queensland-based Magellan Petroleum was back in the black due to a big decrease in exploration write-downs. Oil production from the Mereenie field in the Northern Territory was down 16%, but gas production remained steady.
Changes in state government regulations saw Envestra, Australia's biggest gas distributor, post a 21% fall in interim profit to $5.07 million, but the company said it expects to claw back the deficit and should post an improved annual result in June.
Not travelling so well is one-time market darling Energy Development. The green and remote area power producer posted a $46 million loss for the December half due to a $78 million write-down in its waste-to-energy business. Energy Development boss Chris Laurie vowed to improve cash flow, cut costs and resolve technical issues to win back shareholder and market confidence. Good luck.
Out in the frontiers, BHP Billiton will spend over A$600 million fast-tracking development of a major oil and gas field in the Caribbean, making good on its promise to make Trinidad and Tobago a "core area" for its petroleum division. Other "core areas" include the Gulf of Mexico, Algeria as well as the Bass Strait.
Closer to home, the market was unimpressed by an announcement from Roc Oil that appraisal drilling at Cliff Head-4 well in the northern Perth Basin showed a vertical oil column of 31m. All the partners in the well saw their share prices dip as investors remain to be convinced about the commerciality of Cliff Head.
Carpathian Resources won a small victory in the Czech courts, which ruled in favour of the Perth-based company. Attempts by a local minority partner to have acreage transferred out of its name into to a "non-arms" length party was blocked by Czech authorities.
In other overseas news, swing producer Saudi Arabia said there would still be plenty of oil should Iraqi supplies be snuffed out. The OPEC announcement saw crude oil prices come down a little to be trading around the $US37 bbl.
Finally, while OMV has been making its mark in South East Asia and Australia, it hasn't forgotten its homeland of Austria, where it made that country's biggest oil discovery in 25 years.
