Energy

Perth-based Pacific Energy has won a contract to build and operate a five-megawatt power station at a gold mine near Meekatharra for an undisclosed sum.

A strong fourth-quarter performance has helped Oil Search narrowly beat its full-year production guidance, and the company forecasts steady output for 2017.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has written to the local branches of two trade unions, saying they misrepresented his views on the float of Western Power in a recent advertisement campaign.

Oil and gas producer Santos has topped its guidance for 2016 with a 7 per cent rise in production and a 31 per cent jump in sales, boosted by the ramp-up of its Gladstone liquefied natural gas plant in Queensland.

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum achieved a 3 per cent lift in production in calendar 2016, although the company expects output to fall by up to 12 per cent in the year ahead.

Local concrete construction business Whittens has won a $15 million contract with a joint venture comprising Monadelphous Group and ZEM Energy for work at the Sapphire wind farm in New South Wales.

National LNG exports were up 38 per cent in 2016, but Western Australian facilities did not contribute to the increase despite first gas being produced at Chevron’s Gorgon project, according to the latest research from EnergyQuest.

Recently renamed Carnegie Clean Energy has launched a $5 million capital raising to prepare itself for opportunities that may come up through its joint venture with developer Lendlease.

Perth oil and gas hopeful Po Valley Energy is heading to London, with the company planning to list its Sillaro gas asset in northern Italy on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market in a bid to raise up to $3.7 million.

A $52 million impairment has been taken by Alcoa World Alumina Corporation on its share of the Warro gas project in the Perth Basin, after the company determined exploration results by project operator Transerv Energy did not support the existing carrying value.

The proposed part sale of Western Power is not the only move towards increased private investment in the utilities sector.

The growth of solar power over the next decade could cut the price of energy in WA, according to a man involved in one of the latest projects to take a step forward.

A $69 million gas storage facility will be built near Onslow by Duet Group subsidiary DBP Development Group to help producers and consumers smooth production profiles and cover planned outages.

Sandfire Resources has encountered problems at its $40 million solar farm at the Degrussa copper mine, about six months after an ASX announcement suggested the power plant had been successfully commissioned.

Perth’s domestic gas users could have a choice between four retailers by July next year, with Sydney-based utility Origin Energy putting forward an application to the Economic Regulation Authority to enter the market.

Renewable technology company Bombora Wave Power says an independent study has confirmed the viability of its first commercial project, a 60-megawatt wave farm in Portugal, which it says will cost $180 million to develop.

Monadelphous Group will share in a $430 million contract to deliver the 270 megawatt Sapphire wind farm in NSW through its joint venture with ZEM Energy.

Perth-based Programmed Maintenance Services has won a contract to provide staffing and logistical support services at Shell’s Prelude floating natural gas project in the Browse Basin.

Energy infrastructure company APA Group has entered into an agreement with Synergy for the purchase of power from its Emu Downs solar farm near Cervantes, with construction of the project now set to begin next month.

A $160 million project to build a utility scale solar farm near Cunderdin has received Development Assessment Panel approval and could be producing at 100 megawatts in time for Christmas next year.

Certainty around the state’s domestic gas supply received a boost today, with the Chevron-led Gorgon project delivering first domgas to Synergy and AWE taking the next step towards the development of stage two at the Waitsia gas field.

Energy giant Chevron has committed $US2 billion ($A2.7 billion) next year towards completing its Gorgon and Wheatstone projects in Western Australia.

Four Western Australian projects will be included in a planned spin-off from energy player Santos in a bid to increase cash flow and cut debt, including facilities at Thevenard and Barrow islands.

The state’s domestic gas market is expected to have excess supply of 640 terajoules per day by 2021, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator, although a delay in commencement of production at the Wheatstone or Gorgon domestic gas facilities could lead to a tightening of the supply as early as next year.

Shares in oil and gas explorer Transerv Energy tumbled today as managing director Stephen Keenihan announced his resignation in the wake of news yesterday that the company’s proposal to acquire assets owned by Origin Energy had been terminated.

Gas and power retailer Origin Energy has outlined a scaled-back version of its long-anticipated plan to split the company's major businesses.

Oil and gas play Tap Oil has confirmed James Menzies as its new chairman, after he joined the board in May as a director and was earmarked as Doug Bailey’s successor.

Shares in DUET Group have jumped 16 per cent after the energy utility operator confirmed it has received an indicative and conditional takeover offer from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing's Cheung Kong Infrastructure.

Perth-based oil and gas explorer TTE Petroleum has recruited former Liquefied Natural Gas boss Maurice Brand as part of a board restructure that includes the resignation of current chair Darren Levy and the movement of chief executive Paul Garner to a non-executive role.

Perth-based Tap Oil has settled its outstanding disputes with its second-largest shareholder, days before the matters were to hit the courts in Singapore.

A $10 million renewable energy-powered microgrid, which has the potential to become Australia’s largest, has been given the green light for development in Kalbarri.

ANALYSIS: Vienna is a long way from Perth, but what might happen there on November 30 could have a profound effect on the Western Australian economy.