LNG

Woodside Energy, the liquefied natural gas plants operator in Western Australia, reported a second-quarter increase in LNG sales revenues from the Pluto, Northwest Shelf and Wheatstone operations even at lower prices.

Australia said that liquefied natural gas demand is expected to increase by just under 2.5 percent in 2024, largely driven by the needs of customers in Asia-Pacific nations and by market dynamics in China.

Hess Corp., the New York-based oil and gas company being acquired by Chevron Corp. in a transaction agreed in October and valued at $53 billion, is trying to re-assure Chevron that one of its main assets in Guyana was safe from any pre-emption purchase offer from the other shareholders in the block.

Chevron Corp., the US major oil and gas company with LNG operations in Australia and Africa, has received a vote of confidence from US investor Warren Buffett whose Berkshire Hathaway has taken its stake to almost 7 percent.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in San Ramon, California-based Chevron by over 15.84 million shares.

This transaction has brought Berkshire Hathaway's total share count in Chevron to 126.09M shares, representing about 5.96 percent of Buffett’s investment portfolio and 6.81 percent of Chevron's outstanding shares.

Lower price

According to Berkshire Hathaway data, the Chevron shares were acquired at an average price of $149.16 each and were valued at $18.80 billion.

Buffett is a celebrity figure among America’s small retail investors and is known to his fans as “The Oracle of Omaha”.

Buffett’s other main energy investment is in Houston, Texas-based Occidental Petroleum which forms 4.19 percent of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. The Buffett firm also has a huge 50 percent represented by shares in Apple Inc.

Chevron’s shares have recently risen to $154.63 per share, backed by positive earnings and the company’s acquisition agreement signed in October 2023 with US oil and gas company Hess Corp.

The value of the Buffett stake has already risen and at current prices on February 19, 2024, is now worth just short of $20Bln at $19.49Bln.

Chevron recently reported annual net profits of $21.41Bln, down from $35.60Bln in the previous year, though apart from 2022 the Chevron performance was the strongest since 2013.

LNG projects advance

Chevron listed among its highlights as achieving first natural gas production from the Gorgon Stage 2 development in Western Australia where its operates both the Gorgon LNG and Wheatstone LNG export plants.

Chevron also reached a final investment decision with partners to construct a third gathering pipeline that is expected to increase natural gas production capacity at the Leviathan gas field and a future LNG hub in the East Mediterranean offshore Israel.

The company additionally expanded the Bayou Bend carbon-capture and sequestration project on the US Gulf Coast through an acquisition of nearly 100,000 acres.

However, Chevron assets in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico also helped to underpin the earnings.

Chevron posted an increase in its Permian production by 10 percent in 2023 with US quarterly output coming to 1.16 million barrels per day compared with 895,000 barrels per day, helped by the 2023 acquisition of US independent oil and gas company PDC Energy.

Chevron is also paying $53Bln for New York-based Hess, giving it access to major oil discoveries in the South American nation of Guyana as well as more US shale assets in the Bakken Shale Basin of North Dakota.

US majors ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. recorded their second-largest annual profits in 10 years as oil and natural gas production increased and Chevron shipped record LNG cargoes from Australia even amid work stoppages.

Chevron Corp., the energy major and liquefied natural gas operator in Western Australia and Angola, and with a small LNG fleet said that the President of Chevron Shipping Company, Mark Ross, was retiring from the company in May “after 33 years of distinguished service”.

The San Ramon, California-based company said that Ross would be succeeded by Barbara Pickering, currently Vice President of Operations at the shipping unit.

Chevron Shipping employs around 2,000 people worldwide and operates a modern fleet of 30 ships and also charters third-party vessels  to transport LNG, crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas, refined petroleum products and chemicals around the world.

The company said that Ross had led Chevron Shipping since 2015 and prior to that, he served as Vice President of Operations of the company for four years.

He joined Chevron in 1990 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in Chevron’s Midstream, Upstream and Downstream organizations.

ABS director

He is also a Director of the American Bureau of Shipping and the UK P&I Club and is a past Chairman of the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO).

He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

His successor Barbara Pickering received a bachelor’s degree in Maritime Studies from Liverpool University in the United Kingdom and joined Chevron in 1991 as a ship charterer in London.

She has held positions of increasing responsibility with Chevron in the UK, Australia and the United States. She also currently serves as a Vice Chairman of OCIMF.

“Under Mark’s leadership, Chevron Shipping has delivered exceptional safety and environmental performance and has greatly expanded its marine capabilities,” said Colin Parfitt, President of Chevron Midstream.

“We thank Mark for his many contributions and wish him well in the future,” added Parfitt.

Ross said that it had been an honor and privilege to have worked for Chevron Shipping and to have served as President for the past nine years.

“I take immense pride in what we have accomplished in transforming Chevron Shipping into a world-class marine organization,” Ross explained.

“Words cannot properly express how I feel about our organization and the deep appreciation I have for the people who run it - onboard our ships, at our terminals and ashore. I have known Barbara for 30 years and I am thrilled she will now lead our company,” Ross stated.

The US finished 2023 at the top of the liquefied natural gas exports league as shipments to Europe were ramped up to replace Russian volumes while Australia finished second because of maintenance, strikes and regulatory obstructions for future ventures and Qatar was in third place ahead of its massive expansion plans.

Australian liquefied natural gas export revenues hit a record high of A$93 billion (US$60Bln) in the 2022-2023 fiscal year but are forecast to ease to A$71Bln in the current year as the spike in global energy prices set off by the Russia-Ukraine war unwinds.

Sept 22 (LNGJ) - Australia’s Offshore Alliance union agreed to the pay and conditions recommendation of the nation’s labor disputes arbitration body, the Fair Work Commissioner, and called off the strike by around 500 members at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG export plants in Western Australia that had failed to disrupt cargo flows.

   “The Offshore Alliance will now work with Chevron to finalize the drafting of the agreements and members will soon cease current industrial action,” the unions said in a statement. The terms of the new wages and conditions agreements were not disclosed. “Chevron Australia has consistently engaged in meaningful negotiations in an effort to finalize Enterprise Agreements with market competitive remuneration and conditions,” said Chevron in its brief statement. The Offshore Alliance for the country's oil and gas industry comprises the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia.

The United States said it exported more liquefied natural gas than any other country in the first half of 2023 with shipments averaging 11.6 billion cubic feet per day during the period, which was 4 percent more than in the same six months of the previous year.