Category: Archive

Licence could fetch up to $2 million: The Goondiwindi-based auctioneer organising the sale of a cattleman’s Moonie River licence on 27 April predicted it could fetch up to $2 million. In return, the new owner will be entitled to take up to 2200 megalitres, although the river’s performance suggests the annual average will be about 1100Ml.

Comparable licence for Macintyre worth $4 million: Auctioneer Clayton Smith said a 2200Ml licence on the Macintyre Brook, also in the border rivers system, was worth $4 million. Water Minister Henry Palaszczuk said the state had more than 7500 tradeable water allocations, with an estimated total value of more than $1.5 billion.

The Courier Mail, 28/4/2006, p. 22

Source: Erisk Net  

Market carve-up underway? It would be only natural if Gazprom sought to agree with its rivals in North Africa and the Middle East to a set of commercial terms that facilitate the carving up of markets, ensuring everyone gets a share of the pie, the article added.

Crude price starting to damage majors: Among the West’s big oil companies, the price of crude has gone beyond a mere embarrassment of riches to the point where it is damaging business plans. So hot is the market that companies struggle to staff projects and acquire materials and equipment.

Their costs are soaring: BP recently suffered a tripling in the day rate of its drillship in the Gulf of Mexico. In Qatar, they are no longer worrying about tender prices but about a lack of bids. There are simply not enough equipment procurement contractors to service the profusion of projects.

Their market dominance is eroding: The surging price is doing damage in other areas for the major oil companies, causing political problems at home and abroad. Oil producing nations no longer need the oil majors to provide either cash or technology. The latter they can buy from oil service companies, which have picked up the staff and skills abandoned by the majors during the price collapse of the 1990s. Flush with funds from high prices, the oil producing nations also no longer need the oil majors’ capital.

The Australian, 27/4/2006, p. 25

Source: Erisk Net  

40,000 Chinese villagers are short of drinking water following a pollution spill in the southern province of Guandong. … more

Greenpeace claims a victory over seafood suppliers Gorton’s, Sealord and parent company Nissui, who have withdrawn their active support for Japanese whaling. Read more … 

Investec diving into renewables: One significant biofuels investor is the Australian office of Investec Bank, which is building a renewable energy investment business to add to its private equity, real estate and corporate advisory operations.

US ethanol deal: This month Investec added ethanol to its portfolio with a $US100 million ($A134 million) deal to gain access to 160 million gallons of ethanol production in the US, using special-purpose company Global Ethanol Holdings. GEH has taken a 60 per cent stake in lowa-based co-operative Midwest Grain Producers, which has an operational plant producing 100 million gallons (378 million litres) of ethanol with a 60-million-gallon plant under production in nearby Michigan.

Two more in the pipeline: Investec’s executive chairman in Australia, Geoff Levy, says the group has two other ethanol deals close to completion, one of which is in the US.

The Age, 24/4/2006, p. 2

Listed producers Australian Ethanol and Australian Renewable Fuels have seen their share prices jump 160 per cent and 18 per cent respectively since last March, read more …