Today was crazy I could not believe my eyes- It feels like they have turned up the pace - getting their fill before the drill. They are very hungry to sink funds into KAR, It would be interesting to see their independent risk analysis on the TCF potential of Browse - Yellow sorry to hear about your loss.
Its very old although makes an interesting read - See below WPL thoughts on China , TCF to supply NWS and Browse
The reason why I am posting is to show the bigger picture and what KAR holders are potentially part of
ADDRESS BY WOODSIDE ENERGY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER DON VOELTE TO THE BOAO FORUM FOR ASIA HAINAN, CHINA. SATURDAY 23 APRIL 2005 CHINA AND AUSTRALIA — THE ENERGY FUTURE Good afternoon, and welcome to this session today on “China and Australia — the Energy Future”. Thank you Prime Minister John Howard for opening this session. We’re very pleased to have Mr Howard here today, a man who has done so much to strengthen the bond between Australia and China. We also have former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, whose ongoing commitment to China and the region is demonstrated by his directorship of the Boao Forum for Asia. Their presence is a testimony to the importance of the relationship between our two nations, and the value Australia places on its commitment to provide a stable, reliable source of energy to a growing China. I welcome my fellow panellists this afternoon; Mr Ma Kai, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, President Fu Chengyu from the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Captain Wei Jiafu, from the China Ocean Shipping Company, Mr Jay Johnson, Managing Director of ChevronTexaco Australia and Mr Garry Draffin, Chief Executive of Invest Australia. I also acknowledge the presence of Mr Chen Tonghai, Chairman of the China Petrochemical Corporation, John Banner, President of our own North West Shelf Australia LNG, and many other business leaders and distinguished guests. I continue to be overwhelmed every time I visit China. I’m stunned by the size of the country, the richness of its culture, the beauty of its landscapes and the quality of its people. However, I’m overwhelmed by the story of China, a story as old as time, yet which continues to unfold at such an incredible pace before our eyes. When I grew up in a farming community in Nebraska in the 1950s, I barely knew China existed. Like so many others in the Western World, it was not until President Richard Nixon’s visit here in 1972 that I began to have a real knowledge and understanding of the country. I began visiting China regularly in the 1980s, and have now made many trips here. I am awestruck by the massive changes which take place between each visit. Many speakers at this conference have already talked about the pace of China’s economic growth, and there’s little reason to repeat the same figures, no matter how incredible they are. 2 But it’s worth recalling a trip I made here about 14 years ago when I was working at Mobil. When I visited staff at our Beijing office, the local workforce couldn’t wait to take me to what they believed was an outstanding symbol of Chinese economic progress, the country’s first McDonald’s fast food outlet. Its opening was a significant event in their eyes. While I didn’t share their view that the opening of a burger shop was a valuable economic indicator, it’s worth noting there are now 600 McDonald’s stores across China. That must mean something. I’m no great burger fan, but I hope they’re using gas to cook those patties. I hope in years to come they’re cooked with Australian gas, and made from Australian beef. Needless to say, sustained growth over so many decades does not happen by accident. Commentators too quickly dismiss China’s extraordinary economic growth since the 1950s as a natural consequence of the size of the country’s population. At 1.25 billion, China is home to 20 per cent of the world’s people. More credit should be given to China’s success in engineering economic growth in a way which has allowed such an enormous number of people to share in the rewards. Four hundred million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty in two decades, a number equivalent to 20 times the population of Australia. Let me repeat that: 400 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty in the past 20 years. It is a staggering achievement. Much of the credit must go towards China’s central planning agencies, including the National Development and Reform Commission, represented here today by Mr Ma, and its predecessors. The commission is deepening reform and promoting development, and we welcome Mr Ma’s commitment to engage in extensive cooperation with those at home and abroad to continue not just China’s, but the world’s economic development. Sustaining Chinese economic growth of nine per cent a year cannot be achieved without energy, and in Australia, China has a friendly and stable supplier with plentiful reserves of both natural gas and coal. Today we are here to talk about the energy relationship between China and Australia, and there is plenty to talk about. Most significantly, the strong relationship between the two nations in regard to energy matters is built on the back of ever-growing diplomatic and social ties. Australia is a young nation, but we still like to think we go a long way back with China. Significant numbers of Chinese settled in Australia in the decades after European settlement, most noticeably working in the fledgling gold industry. In Perth, Woodside’s home base, the first Chinese immigrant arrived the same year the city was settled by Europeans. The Chinese have always contributed significantly to the Australian way of life, and continue to do so. 3 The bond between our nations may never have been stronger than it is today. That is clearly evident by the visit of your President Hu Jintao to Australia in 2003 and the presence here today of our Prime Minister Howard. The bond between Woodside and China is also growing. We now have an office in Beijing, and next year we begin delivering LNG to the Guangdong project from our North West Shelf project, and will continue to do so for 25 years. The North West Shelf project is the foundation on which Woodside was built, and we now see it as the foundation on which an expanding Chinese LNG import industry is built. Importantly, Woodside and other Australian gas companies stand ready to build on our Guangdong agreement, to partner China in its continuing economic progress. China needs energy to sustain its journey, and that energy needs to come from strong, safe, reliable and stable friends. In Australia, China has a supplier which perfectly meets those requirements. We enjoy a stable political and social environment with a history of support for China. We have the highest environmental standards. We’re also physically close. Australia is just 4000km south of where we stand today. Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant is just seven days sailing from here. Most importantly, we have the natural gas needed to meet growing Chinese demand for energy, with expected resources of about 4250 billion cubic metres (150 trillion cubic feet). That’s enough to keep about ten LNG receiving terminals, each with a capacity of three million tonnes a year, supplied for about 100 years. Among the potential sources of Australian natural gas to feed the demand for new LNG terminals in China is an expanded North West Shelf, and the Sunrise, Gorgon and Browse projects. With your indulgence I may just take a few minutes to tell you about the Woodsideoperated Browse project. The Browse basin is 250km off the Kimberley coast in Western Australia, in water depths ranging from 400 metres to 800 metres. The attributes of Browse can be best summed up in four words — scarcity, size, security and simplicity. It is one of the very few large undeveloped gas resources outside the Middle East or Russia, making it both scarce and valuable. Its size gives Browse enormous potential. We believe the project has an estimated scope for recovery of 580 billion cubic metres of gas (20 trillion cubic feet), and about 300 million barrels of condensate. From a customer’s point of view, there is potential for Browse to continuously supply at least four receiving terminals for more than 30 years. From a supplier’s perspective, we believe the field is big enough to feed an onshore LNG plant processing about 14 million tonnes a year. 4 On that scale, Browse has the potential to be Australia’s second North West Shelf. Importantly, we have not found all the gas that may be sitting off Australia’s north-west coast. The Browse Basin retains significant exploration prospectivity, and in a few years I hope we will be dealing with a much larger resource. Our 50 per cent equity in Browse also gives the project its simplicity. Customers can take comfort dealing with an operator with such a major stake in the project. They can also take comfort knowing the other 50 per cent of Browse is largely made up of the same team that joined Woodside in creating the North West Shelf — BP, ChevronTexaco, BHP Billiton and Shell. The importance of Browse for Woodside is enormous. While our North West Shelf project will always remain the foundation on which our company was built, our much bigger stake in Browse could make this project twice as significant for the company. We’re still trying to assess how quickly we can get Browse up and running. At the moment we’re saying we’d like to have Browse commissioned some time in, or soon after, 2011, but needless to say I’m hopeful we can demonstrate a good turn of speed on this. There is strong demand on the immediate horizon for LNG, not only from China but also from Japan, Mexico, the United States, Korea and India. Australia is a natural source of supply to many of these markets. The Browse Basin requires further appraisal, and we plan to drill three wells this year, with more to follow in 2006. But I’m extremely hopeful this project will be under construction by the end of 2007. Browse offers the security which is so important when negotiating contracts that can last decades. Woodside enjoys a reputation as a proven LNG operator and Australia provides a level of legal, fiscal and political certainty which our competitors cannot match. I’m happy to speak more about Browse if any of you have questions during the session, and I’m sure my friend Jay Johnson from ChevronTexaco will be more than happy to give you details on his company’s Gorgon development, another wonderful Western Australian project. All Australian gas companies stand ready to support our Chinese friends and help continue this nation’s incredible story. We believe we can be an integral part of it.
KAR Price at posting:
$4.20 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)