BLOOMBERG: Australian Oil, Gas Exploration Spending Jumped 70% (Update2)
By Angela Macdonald-Smith
April 3 (Bloomberg) — Australian spending on offshore oil and gas exploration jumped 70 percent last year to a record because of spiraling costs and equipment shortages, the national petroleum industry lobby group said.
Investment in the hunt for oil and gas in waters around Australia surged to A$2.14 billion ($2 billion), the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association said today in an e-mail. Spending including onshore drilling rose by about A$1 billion to A$2.66 billion even as the number of wells fell.
Offshore drillers such as Transocean Inc. and Atwood Oceanics Inc. are commanding higher rates as explorers ramp up work in the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, outpacing rig availability. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp. and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. are among companies seeking natural gas finds off Australia’s northwest to underpin export projects.
The increase in expenditure “is a stark illustration of the impact of rising costs and equipment shortages,” Belinda Robinson, chief executive officer of the industry group, said in an e-mailed statement.
Houston-based Transocean, the world’s largest offshore oil and gas driller, in October signed a then-record $600,000 a-day drilling contract with a customer it didn’t name. The rig was being hired out at the time at $395,000 a day. Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Frontier Drilling ASA and Songa Offshore ASA are among other drillers working off Australia’s coast.
Bigger Budgets
BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer, in February increased its petroleum exploration budget for the year ending June 30 by 20 percent after boosting drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Australia. Global capital investment in offshore oil and gas exploration and production is set to reach $250 billion by 2010 up from about $150 billion in 2004, Australian engineering company WorleyParsons Ltd. said this week, citing Douglas-Westwood Ltd., a U.K. consulting firm.
Spending on onshore exploration in Australia rose 21 percent to A$519.1 million, while the number of wells drilled fell 15 percent to 74, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data cited by the association. The number of offshore wells drilled rose by five to 37. The amount of seismic work carried out also fell, the data shows.
Australia’s crude-oil production dropped about 3 percent to 120 million barrels last year, contributing to a 1 percent slide in combined crude, condensate and liquefied petroleum gas output to 196.7 million barrels, the association said.
“The slight decline in liquids production can largely be attributed to a combination of shutdowns on significant producing assets and natural field decline,” Robinson said.
Liquefied natural gas production gained 8 percent to 15.1 million metric tons, while gas output for sale within Australia gained 10 percent to 887.7 billion cubic feet, the association said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at [email protected]
Last Updated: April 2, 2008 22:17 EDT
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
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