Energy
Krzywosinski to hand over reins at Chevron Australia
Angela Macdonald-Smith 11:51 AM Chevron's long-standing head in Australia Roy Krzywosinski handing over British-born Nigel Hearne, as first revealed by Street Talk.
Caltex squeezed by lower oil margins
![With the closure of its Kurnell refinery, Caltex is now focused on expanding its convenience store footprint at its ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/y/5/1/y/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gomnr0.png/1462404756700.jpg)
Brian Robins 9:30 AM Higher sales volumes failed to offset a decline in refiner margins at oil refiner and distributor Caltex, resulting in a steep fall in March-quarter earnings.
Shell quarterly profit falls 58% to $US1.6b
![Chief executive Ben Van Beurden, who staked his reputation to buy BG, is banking on those assets to help Shell ride out ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/m/8/7/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gomnw9.png/1462403337005.jpg)
Rakteem Katakey 9:08 AM Royal Dutch Shell's first-quarter profit beat analyst estimates as better than expected earnings from oil refining and chemicals production countered crude prices at a 12-year low.
Oil advances late despite rising US stockpile
![The crude inventory build was "much greater than expected", said Phil Streible, senior market strategist at RJO Futures ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/9/r/v/y/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gommlm.png/1462401419433.jpg)
Jessica Summers 8:00 AM Oil was little changed after swinging between losses after the government reported US crude inventories jumped last week.
Kim Williams to chair 'the Costco of power'
![Mojo Power CEO James Myatt and Chairman Kim Williams are backing "the Costco of power".](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/l/5/c/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.golaiv.png/1462369745233.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith 11:49 PM Former Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams has emerged as a customer, a backer and now chairman of electricity retailing "disruptor" Mojo Power.
Origin in major solar power purchase
![Large-scale solar is rapidly becoming competitive with wind energy.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/s/m/i/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gollf5.png/1462346968794.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith 5:29 PM Origin Energy will buy the output of a new solar farm in north Queensland, underscoring the growing competitiveness of large-scale solar.
Oil Search seeks middle ground for LNG pricing
![Oil Search managing director Peter Botten.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/m/2/7/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gom6pg.png/1462346042504.jpg)
Perry Williams 5:14 PM LNG producer Oil Search has started talks with Asian customers over negotiating shorter-term price contracts.
Santos CEO pledges to 'deliver value'
![Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher: Breaking an uncomfortable nexus his first and biggest challenge.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/u/p/u/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gola8y.png/1462330939231.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith 1:02 PM Santos's new chief executive, Kevin Gallagher, has promised to take a "highly disciplined" approach to improve value for shareholders.
Oil falls on bets US inventories increased last week
![Inventories are forecast to have increased by 750,000 barrels last week, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/9/n/m/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goljfq.png/1462307505306.jpg)
Jessica Summers Oil tumbled to below $US44 a barrel ahead of US government data forecast to show nationwide crude supplies rose last week.
TransGrid to move with the times
![TransGrid CEO Paul Italiano and chairman Rick Francis see an exciting future for the traditionally staid NSW grid owner.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/k/y/s/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goktzg.png/1462337769493.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith The newly privatised TransGrid will explore new business opportunities in telecommunications, renewable energy connections and maintenance services.
Oil drops as Iraq exports near record high
!["We have probably seen the worst of it in oil - that's the good news. The bad news is that the current price has just ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/m/r/y/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gokk2k.png/1462225922076.jpg)
Jessica Summers Oil declined for a second day as Iraq's exports approached a record high in April, adding barrels to a worldwide supply glut that has pushed prices lower.
Gas man to test skills as head of AWE
![AWE's new chief executive officer David Biggs is not banking on an oil price recovery yet.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/k/5/f/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gojo9i.png/1462173905148.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith David Biggs' gas marketing credentials are expected to come to the fore as he takes up the reins at mid-cap energy player AWE in the midst of the extended slump in oil prices.
RET in doubt amid $10b investment gap
![A rush of investment is needed to meet the 2020 renewable energy target, but lenders are wary, BIS Shrapnel says.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/n/z/h/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohsyo.png/1462102543523.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith A new analysis finds $10 billion of renewable investment is needed in a market plagued by changing regulations that are deterring lenders.
Labor's missing renewables billion
![The outlook for Australia's support for renewable energy remains unclear.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/s/g/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goj775.png/1462120081362.jpg)
Peter Hannam Labor faces 'a litmus test' of its support of renewable energy after it emerged that a Shorten government would book $1 billion of the savings cut from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency by the Coalition.
Chevron eyes Gorgon LNG restart this month
![Gorgon LNG has so far shipped just one cargo.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/f/u/d/8/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goheat.png/1462080991418.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith Chevron expects to resume production at its $US54 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas project off Western Australia this month.
Oil drops as OPEC output rises ever higher
!["The OPEC production estimates are putting pressure on the market," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, a New ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/5/p/p/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goish7.png/1461968274889.jpg)
Mark Shenk Oil dropped from a five-month high in New York as surging OPEC crude production is seen swelling global stockpiles.
APLNG boost for Origin sales
![Good result: An LNG tanker docked at Origin Energy's APLNG project in Gladstone.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/i/6/r/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohsvs.png/1461911139991.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith A strong start-up of the $25 billion Australian Pacific LNG project has driven a surge in Origin Energy's quarterly oil and gas sales despite weak oil prices.
Oil reaches five-month high as US output slips again
!["Brent for June settlement advanced 96 cents, or 2 per cent, to $US48.14 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/h/f/j/1/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohsth.png/1461884978435.jpg)
Mark Shenk Oil rose to a five-month high in New York after a further drop in US crude production signalled lower prices are taking a toll on the nation's shale boom.
Oil rises above $US45 on US crude output drop
!["We're in a bull market," said Bill O'Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management. "Every ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/9/i/p/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogq25.png/1461794167333.jpg)
Mark Shenk Oil closed above $US45 a barrel in New York for the first time since November after US crude output dropped.
Beach Energy axes more jobs
![Beach Energy is cutting more jobs than it took on through its takeover of Drillsearch Energy.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/i/8/w/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goftbc.png/1461742288885.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith Beach Energy has upped the savings it expects to make from its takeover of Drillsearch Energy by axing further jobs, taking the reduction in headcount to 88 since June 30.
World Bank bumps up oil price forecast
![The World Bank isn't ruling out a softening in oil prices after recent gains.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/a/r/5/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofsjb.png/1461740716286.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith The World Bank has followed JPMorgan in nudging up its forecasts for crude oil prices for this year and next.
Tax rise won't stop 'perverse' shift to brown coal
![Some analysts say tripling the royalty could increase power costs by $2 to $3 per megawatt-hour.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/e/3/g/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofnpw.png/1461735420060.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith The tripling of royalties on Victorian brown coal will boost the budget and power bills but not by enough to make cleaner black coal generation competitive.
Brown coal: counting the cost of burning mud
![Michael Pascoe](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/u/e/j/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goftnc.png/1462281766921.jpg)
Michael Pascoe We're burning more coal, producing more carbon emissions, to produce gas which will produce less carbon than coal-fired generators when it reaches its foreign destinations.
Oil rises as sentiment on outlook brightens
![Rig activity in Canada's oil fields has reached a record low, according to data from the Canadian Association of Oilwell ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/9/n/m/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofp3a.png/1461706385903.jpg)
Mark Shenk Oil closed at the highest level in more than five months in New York amid signs that a global surplus is gradually diminishing.
Exxon Mobil downgraded by S&P;
![Citing concern that credit measures would remain weak through 2018, S&P warned Exxon that it was in danger of losing the ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/q/e/g/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofp6t.png/1461704441180.jpg)
Joe Carroll Exxon Mobil was demoted from the top credit rating by Standard & Poor's for the first time since the Great Depression.
BP's loss lower than expected
![BP said it had lost $US1.2 billion in its key oil and gas exploration and production unit, which was a big money earner ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/k/4/l/s/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofotb.png/1461702060504.jpg)
Stanley Reed The energy giant lost some $750 million in the first quarter of 2016 because of the oil slump. It could have been worse.
Saudi Arabia announces plan to end its 'addiction' to oil
![Despite billions in arms sales from Washington to Riyadh, the sun appears to be setting on what was once a pivotal ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/c/q/x/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goerjk.png/1461682324793.jpg)
Adam Taylor Saudi Arabia is a country near-synonymous with the oil industry, but now the kingdom is moving to end what it calls its "addiction to oil" with a new plan.
Comment
Saudi Arabia weaning itself off oil
![Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, meeting here with US Secretary of State John Kerry, has amassed immense ...](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/y/g/o/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goes6h.png/1461664492647.jpg)
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Saudi Arabia has vowed to end its reliance on the commodity in an attempt to avoid economic doom.
China curbs plans for more coal-fired power plants
![China, by far the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is aiming to reach a peak in carbon emissions by 2030.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/y/3/t/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goesx1.png/1461656111843.jpg)
Michael Forsythe China halted plans for new coal-fired power stations in many parts of the country, and construction of some approved plants will be postponed until at least 2018.
Softer thermal coal contract price not as bad as expected
![Japanese utility companies have again been willing to pay a premium for secure supplies of coal.](/web/20160505023028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/k/x/y/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goe3jz.png/1461651448634.jpg)
Angela Macdonald-Smith Australian thermal coal exporters have had to reduce annual contract prices but the agreed rate still compares favourably with the weaker spot market.