OPEC could extend its oil output pact with non-members or cut deeper if global inventories fail to drop as intended.

The electricity market operator should be given additional power so it can intervene directly in the energy market, the head of Origin Energy has said.

Labor's climate change spokesman Mark Butler has dismissed as "rubbish" widely circulating claims that Federal ALP had dropped its goal of achieving half of the nation's electricity will be supplied by renewable sources by 2030.

South 32, the spin-out of orphan assets from BHP Billiton, has benefited handsomely from the surge in metal prices in the latter part of 2016, but has opted to hang on to a large chunk of its cash.

The heavy write-down of assets disclosed earlier in the week pushed Origin Energy's earnings into the red, with the improved performance of its energy utility business overwhelmed by asset valuation adjustments.

The fall in the oil price has prompted Origin Energy to slash $1.9 billion off the value of its assets, primarily for its gas export project in Queensland.

Unusually warm sea temperatures and the prospect for more to come have reef scientists worried that the Great Barrier Reef may experience another major coral bleaching event. And Sydney is also under threat.

• ANALYSIS

The noisy parliamentary battle over renewable energy rages on

The booming market for home storage could be thrown into disarray if proposed safety guidelines force owners to move their battery units outside.

• COMMENT

Consumers are voters and they won't forget who is to blame if there's a meltdown in our nation's energy supplies.

Tomago Aluminium, Australia's largest smelter and the state's largest electricity user, has been ordered to dramatically reduce power consumption for a second day as a record heatwave strains NSW's power sector.

• ANALYSIS

Pointing our solar panels in the wrong direction is only one quirk in our strained energy system.

Oil rose on a report that OPEC has achieved a record 90 per cent initial compliance with a production cut accord.

Rio Tinto has appointed three former senior managers from the energy industry to its board as non-executive directors, including Shell's departing CFO Simon Henry.

Authorities are pleading for public help to avoid blackouts and limit fire risks as a record-breaking heatwave sets in across eastern Australia.

Sydney has sweltered through another record-breaking day in summer of peak heat, with hospitals remaining on alert, power cuts hitting businesses and sports competitions scrambling to cancel weekend events.

NSW faces biggest test of the summer, with soaring temperatures set to bring "catastrophic" fire conditions to some areas.

Victoria and NSW have been warned they could follow South Australia in being hit by electricity blackouts in years ahead unless Canberra comes up with a bipartisan national plan to deal with energy and climate change.

A little over a decade after it lost hundreds of millions of dollars on an ill-judged foray into New Zealand, energy utility AGL is again planning to expand abroad, although it is tight lipped on details.

NSW faces potential power shortages during the coming heatwave, prompting the electricity market operator to demand additional supply.

Rising wholesale power prices have helped energy utility AGL lift earnings and dividends

Oil advanced after government data showed that US gasoline supplies unexpectedly fell.

Oil dropped to the lowest in more than two weeks amid estimates that US crude and gasoline inventories continue to climb.

Investors are betting big that OPEC's cuts are real.

It is rare to find much unanimity among economists, but one of the few things they agree on is that the trough in commodity prices of 2016 will not be repeated. The question for now is how far will prices retreat, especially following the March quarter, which often marks a cyclical high.

You don't want to be on the wrong end of a short call by Kevin Kaiser of Hedgeye Risk Management.

Shares in Downer EDI soared to a seven-year high on Thursday morning after the contractor lifted its full-year profit forecast following a lack of any bad news in its December-half earnings.

Urth Energy, which billed itself as a "boutique" energy retailer focusing on solar energy systems, has appointed an external administrator.

Crude futures rallied late in New York's day, after briefly trading lower on an earlier, bearish US government report.