Chevron to Invest A$43 B in Gorgon; Stocks Fall

123jump.com Staff
14 Sep, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Australia edged lower as investors stayed on the sidelines. Chevron and its partners decided to go ahead with Gorgon project and plan to invest A$43 billion after they lined up customers in China, Japan, India and South Korea.

[R]10:35PM Sydney, Australia – Stocks in Australia edged lower as investors stayed on the sidelines. Chevron and its partners decided to go ahead with Gorgon project and plan to invest A$43 billion after they lined up customers in China, Japan, India and South Korea.[/R]

Chevron Corp and its partners agreed to proceed with the development of natural gas field off the coast of Western Australia. Gorgon field is estimated to have 40 trillion cubic feet and life of at least 40 years is expected to start delivering natural gas from 2014 according to a statement from chief executive David O’Reilly.

The statement also confirmed that the company has received environmental approval from the Western Australian State and production license from the federal government.

The first phase of development is expected to cost A$43 billion ($37 billion) will include the building of three-train transportation, 15 million metric ton a year LNG facility and a domestic gas plant.

The natural gas delivered from 11 fields located between 130 and 200 kilometers off the coast of Western Australia will be liquefied at a facility on Barrow Island. The generated carbon dioxide during the liquefaction will be retransmitted to porous rocks at 2.5 kilometer below the ground at a carbon storage facility. Chevron estimated A$2 billion cost of carbon capture.

The federal government and Western Australian government will take responsibility for the storage liability.

Of the stocks in S&P ASX 200 index, 47 increased, 142 declined and 11 were unchanged.

The Australian benchmark index declined 1.4% after a weakness in banking sector and investors grew cautious on stretched valuations.

ASX Movers

Minara Resources Limited led the decliners in the S&P ASX 200 index with a loss of 6.6% followed by losses in St Barbara Limited of 6.3%, in Riversdale Mining Limited of 5.8%, in Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group of 5.6% and in Gindalbie Metals Limited of 5.5%.

Hills Industries Limited led gainers in the S&P ASX 200 index with a rise of 4.6% followed by gains in Austar United Communications Limited 4.3%, in Extract Resources Limited of 3.0% and in Sundance Resources Limited of 3.0%.

Other Movers

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited fell 2.9% to A$22.01 Westpac decreased 43 cents to $24.09 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 93 cents to A$46.67. National Australia Bank Limited declined 3.2% to A$28.10.

Adelaide Bank decreased 15 cents to A$8.18 after it completed A$121 million retail offering.

Austar United Communications Limited the provider of subscription television services rose 4.3% to A$1.19.

Extract Resources Limited the mineral explorer advanced 3.0% to A$10.71.

Hills Industries Limited the electronic security and entertainment added 4.6% to A$1.91.

Macquarie Group Limited decreased 1.9% to A$48.78.

Minara Resources Limited the nickel miner producer declined 6.6% to A$0.84 in weak commodities prices.

Riversdale Mining Limited fell 5.8% to A$5.82.

Santos Limited dropped 3.6% to A$15.30 after the oil producer said expects a gas sale agreement for its Reindeer project by the end of the year.

St Barbara Limited the engaged in mining and sale of gold fell 6.3% to A$0.30.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 242.27 or 2.32% to 10,202.06, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 229.22 or 1.08% to 20,932.20 and CSI 300 index in China higher 55.26 or 1.71% to 3,293.39. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 65.00 or 1.41% to 4,531.10. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 4.92 or 0.41% to 1,203.36.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 16.79 or 1.02% to close at 1,634.91. SET index in Thailand closed lower 13.49 or 1.91% to 694.32 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 33.24 or 1.38% to 2,382.70. The Sensex index in India decreased 50.11 or 0.31% to 16,214.19.