INTERNATIONALLY embarrassing.Not the words any government would like to see used to describe the regulatory regime applying to their most important industry.
SHELL Australia chairman Russell Caplan has capped an extraordinary week for Western Australia's LNG industry, with a swipe at Premier Colin Barnett's attempt to dictate how the $30 billion Browse LNG project in the Kimberley should be developed.
Shell Australia chairman Russell Caplan has warned the world faces an energy supply crunch by 2015 if solutions are not found soon to the conflicting issues of rapid demand growth, dwindling supplies and the need to lower greenhouse emissions.
Premier Colin Barnett has vowed to block any move to pipe gas from the Browse Basin to existing LNG facilities on Burrup Peninsula, in a bid to shore up support for his preferred Kimberley LNG hub at James Price Point near Broome.
WHEN energy giant BP and miner Rio Tinto quietly shelved a joint $2 billion 'clean coal' power initiative at Kwinana in May last year, many pundits considered it the death knell for the state's nascent coal-gasification sector.
PREMIER Colin Barnett was understandably chuffed to announce this week that Chinese steel giant AnSteel would spend the next 18 months studying the viability of a potential steel mill, at Oakajee.
While the state’s budding uranium industry grabbed local headlines last week, two Perth companies quietly confirmed the potential of southern WA as a new source of transport fuels.
THE Chevron-led $50 billion Gorgon LNG development continues to deliver huge side benefits for the Western Australian economy, with Spearwood-based trucking manufacturer Howard Porter winning the state's biggest ever order for semi-trailers.
Premier Colin Barnett has warned that restrictions on foreign guest workers will have to be eased if Western Australia is to avoid another major skills shortage within two years.
WESTERN Power and Verve Energy are shaping for a fight over increases in electricity network charges recommended by the independent market regulator last week.
China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Co (CNOOC) is poised to kick off its first major drilling program in Australian waters as it seeks to match Japanese rival Inpex by establishing its own Australian production base.
The Economic Regulation Authority has knocked back Western Power's request to allow big increases in the price it charges for access to the state's main electricity grid for the next three years.
IRON ore veteran George Jones believes Australia and China must learn from the "spying" dispute involving Rio Tinto iron ore negotiator Stern Hu, given the importance of the relationship between the two nations.
SHELL'S upstream Australian production unit will have greater say in plotting the energy giant's international growth strategy under a dramatic group-wide overhaul being implemented by the company's new global chief, Peter Voser.
STATE Energy Minister Peter Collier has denied the government is preparing to abandon Premier Colin Barnett's mooted re-amalgamation of Verve Energy with Synergy.
THE first ripples of a dramatic restructure of energy giant Shell's global business have reached Perth as the company seeks to slash its cost base, stay competitive and speed up its project development decision-making.
WESTERN Australia's business community has given cautious approval to initiatives proposed at last week's Council of Australian Government (Coag) meeting, aimed at streamlining the approvals process for taxpayer-assisted major infrastructure developments.
WESTERN Australia's engineering services sector is looking to the next 12 months with renewed confidence amid signs the resources sector is on the rebound.
LOCAL engineering firms are already planning to cut the number of expatriates employed at their overseas operations due to new tax laws that will significantly increase the annual tax bill of Australians working overseas.
THE state government has pledged to fast-track new gas specification legislation that is critical for development of BHP Billiton's $1 billion Macedon domestic gas project.
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Indicative bids for a strategic 50 per cent holding in Aquila Resources $4 billion West Pilbara iron ore project are expected within two weeks, following a decision by Aquila's estranged joint venture partner to canvass offers for its stake.
BHP Billiton is believed to be formally preparing to test the waters for a potential sale of its failed $US2.2 billion Ravensthorpe nickel mine, near Hopetoun.
THE Chinese government's approval of a critical $162 million cash injection into Gindalbie Metals by the company's Chinese partner, AnSteel, has delivered a major boost to the emerging Mid West iron ore industry.
