Latest news with #Koutsantonis
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
South Australian government threatens to intervene in oil giant Santos $30 billion Abu Dhabi takeover bid
UAE investors, led by XRG, offered nearly $30 billion to acquire Australian oil and gas producer Santos at $8.99 per share, a 28% premium. Following the deal announcement, the South Australian government threatened to intervene if the takeover bid for the state's largest company is "not in the interests of South Australians." Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Santos Assets United Arab Emirates investors have made a cash bid of almost $30 billion to take over Australian oil and gas producer Santos. The consortium of investors, led by XRG, an arm of the government-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has offered $8.99 cash per share for the acquisition of Santos. According to 9News, it is a 28 percent premium on shareholders' stocks compared to the $6.96 closing price on the deal announcement, the South Australian government threatened to intervene if the takeover bid for the state's largest company is "not in the interests of South Australians," according to ABC News. Santos told the stock exchange on Monday that it had received a takeover offer from the about the takeover bid, Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis said that if the deal is not in the interests of South Australians, the South Australian government will act accordingly. He also said that having Santos headquartered in Adelaide was of "strategic and vital importance to the state." "We're going to fight to keep it here," he added. Koutsantonis further stated that the takeover was "not a foregone conclusion." He said the state government recently passed legislation that "requires our consent for change of licence ownership in the resources sector.""We've got legislation that puts us at the table," he said. "That means we're going to use that legislation, and if the deal is not in the interests of South Australians, the South Australian government will say so and act accordingly." If this deal is not in the interests of Australia, then the Commonwealth government will look at it and have a XRG, the consortium also includes Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company and US private equity group Carlyle. The investors issued the non-binding indicative proposal on Friday. The offer values the oil and gas company at about $28.8 board of South Australia's largest company has given the indication that it intends to unanimously recommend shareholders to vote in favour of the potential transaction in the absence of a better offer and subject to arriving at a final agreement, ABC News reported. The agreement is also subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrators, as well as other authorities in Papua New Guinea and the was founded in 1954 as South Australia and Northern Territory Oil Search. It is a top-20 company on the ASX. The company has oil and gas assets in the Cooper Basin in far northeastern South Australia, Gladstone in Queensland, and across Western Australia and Papua New has said that it has intentions to keep Santos's headquarters in Adelaide and its "brand and operational footprint in Australia and key international operational hubs." The Abu Dhabi company also said it intended to "work closely with the existing management team to accelerate growth and support local employment and the communities where Santos operates."
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Closing Bell: ASX stays the course to finish flat as uranium stocks take flight
Energy sector powers higher again, up more than 5pc ASX uranium stocks surge ASX All Ords Gold index falls almost 5pc While global markets fell on Friday, the ASX has resisted economic riptides, staying afloat to finish up just 1 point or 0.01% in today's trade. The vast majority of that buoyancy came from the energy sector, which added 5% after surging 6% on Friday last week. Santos (ASX:STO) was a big part of that momentum, gaining 10% on a $30b takeover offer from Abu Dhabi's state-owned energy group ADNOC. The South Australian minister for energy and mining Tom Koutsantonis has already signalled that the State will be looking closely at the proposal, and in particular at its implications for employment and Santos' operations in the local area. There was also movement in the ASX All Tech index, up 0.84%, but the All Ords Gold sub-index pulled in the other direction, dragging more than 5%. ASX uranium stocks take flight It's not just oil and gas stocks pushing the ASX energy sector higher today. Uranium miners are also flying, netting double-digit gains as sentiment around uranium mining and nuclear energy turns bullish. The Iran-Israel conflict is also playing a part – Israel has pointedly targeted Iran's uranium enrichment facilities, destroying a uranium conversion facility at Isfahan. While Iran wasn't exporting any uranium to the global market, it was producing about 3000 kilogram of enriched uranium per year, demand that will now need to be met by other sources. Sprott analysts say the long-term outlook for uranium is strong, citing its constrained supply and inelastic demand levels. 'China shows no signs of slowing its buildout of new reactors,' Sprott analyst Jacob White wrote in the most recent Sprott Uranium Report. 'In the US, the Trump administration has reaffirmed its support for nuclear energy as a strategic priority. 'Large technology companies, such as Amazon, Google, and Meta, have joined the chorus, backing the expansion of tripling nuclear power by 2050 to meet growing baseload power needs. 'In a world of rising risk and correlation, uranium remains resilient, uncorrelated and increasingly essential.' Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) has added 20% today, Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) 17%, Paladin (ASX:PDN) 15%, Bannerman (ASX:BMN) 14% and Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT) just under 13%. ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS Today's best performing small cap stocks: Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap ICE Icetana Limited 0.085 107% 8544476 $21,804,862 CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.003 50% 709158 $921,033 PAB Patrys Limited 0.0015 50% 380326 $2,057,447 RC1 Redcastle Resources 0.007 40% 10745155 $3,717,835 AR9 Archtis Limited 0.084 35% 1078512 $17,853,963 PLG Pearlgullironlimited 0.008 33% 783413 $1,227,251 BSN Basinenergylimited 0.021 31% 600374 $1,965,269 ATV Activeportgroupltd 0.009 29% 2141388 $4,794,840 RML Resolution Minerals 0.045 29% 92650295 $18,840,040 WEC White Energy Company 0.044 26% 2050 $10,906,697 MKL Mighty Kingdom Ltd 0.015 25% 1097469 $5,833,700 AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.005 25% 596599 $9,245,472 BMO Bastion Minerals 0.0025 25% 2610000 $1,807,255 GTE Great Western Exp. 0.01 25% 2523554 $4,542,063 JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.0025 25% 242699 $12,252,298 MSG Mcs Services Limited 0.005 25% 130000 $792,399 MTB Mount Burgess Mining 0.005 25% 302098 $1,406,811 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.0025 25% 3537862 $6,011,030 ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.005 25% 247542 $21,688,909 TFL Tasfoods Ltd 0.005 25% 521382 $1,748,382 TMX Terrain Minerals 0.0025 25% 809666 $4,497,113 VEN Vintage Energy 0.005 25% 590000 $8,347,655 KAI Kairos Minerals Ltd 0.032 23% 23024188 $68,403,717 ZAG Zuleika Gold Ltd 0.016 23% 2269484 $9,644,439 MQR Marquee Resource Ltd 0.011 22% 4715139 $5,024,723 Making news… ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV) has inked a deal to roll out its software-defined networking tech for Telekom Malaysia, one of Asia's biggest fixed-line telcos. The software will power TM's shift from old-school manual provisioning to a slick, browser-based self-service platform, slashing circuit activation times from weeks to minutes. It will go live across five countries, starting from June, and marks a big step in TM's push to become a global digital platform player Redcastle Resources (ASX:RC1) has signed a non-binding MoU with Terra Mining to kick off contract mining at its Queen Alexandra and Redcastle Reef gold projects in WA. Terra will fund and manage all open-pit mining down to 70 metres, under a profit-sharing setup aimed at generating early cash without big upfront spend. Redcastle keeps full ownership of the gold and control over processing. A final deal is expected after updated resource estimates and permits land later this year. A contract with the US Department of Defense has turned heads for archTIS (ASX:AR9), after the company locked in a deal to deploy its NC Protect secure software collaboration solution to an initial 1000 users. AR9 expects to expand to the full DoD network in the coming months, with potential to expand its user base 6-fold. The initial license sale carries a value of $38,500. Following the death of its founder Nigel Forrester and a reshuffle of the leadership team, Mount Burgess Mining (ASX:MTB) has laid out a strategy to strengthen its operational foundation and advance the Kihabe–Nxuu polymetallic project in Botswana. The company as adopted three pillars, namely business stability, project advancement, and project pipeline growth, as the core elements of its new strategy. Vintage Energy (ASX:VEN) has inked a contract with Adelaide Energy Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Beach Energy, to sell its 25% interest in the PEP 171 licence, in the onshore Otway Basin, Victoria. The sale will net $1.25m in consideration, with $1m being cash and the remainder consisting of a waive of a milestone payment otherwise due from Vintage. ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS Today's worst performing small cap stocks: Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap RAN Range International 0.001 -50% 450000 $1,878,581 CP8 Canphosphateltd 0.025 -34% 117951 $11,656,900 AUH Austchina Holdings 0.001 -33% 328 $4,538,075 BUY Bounty Oil & Gas NL 0.002 -33% 203374 $4,684,416 SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.002 -33% 101023 $3,225,642 VML Vital Metals Limited 0.002 -33% 1458383 $17,685,201 DTI DTI Group Ltd 0.005 -29% 657964 $3,139,860 M2R Miramar 0.003 -25% 3626977 $3,987,293 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.0015 -25% 127604 $1,553,413 HFY Hubify Ltd 0.009 -25% 12898 $6,133,636 GLE GLG Corp Ltd 0.1 -23% 59324 $9,633,000 ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd 0.031 -21% 317 $15,890,215 1AD Adalta Limited 0.002 -20% 774750 $2,678,291 CTN Catalina Resources 0.004 -20% 12446766 $12,130,095 ENT Enterprise Metals 0.002 -20% 193661 $2,953,293 MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.004 -20% 1061600 $9,917,991 MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.002 -20% 2401601 $1,946,223 SKK Stakk Limited 0.004 -20% 143009 $10,375,398 EQX Equatorial Res Ltd 0.13 -19% 38600 $21,031,256 UBI Universal Biosensors 0.035 -19% 23531 $12,816,900 HE8 Helios Energy Ltd 0.018 -18% 1989506 $68,754,700 IXR Ionic Rare Earths 0.009 -18% 11421574 $57,941,683 PBL Parabellumresources 0.045 -18% 65465 $3,426,500 AM7 Arcadia Minerals 0.015 -17% 10000 $2,112,902 FME Future Metals NL 0.015 -17% 4086017 $12,938,411 TRADING HALTS Blaze Minerals (ASX: BLZ) – cap raise & acquisition D3 Energy (ASX:D3E) – potential asset acquisition Emyria (ASX:EMD) – material commercial deal & cap raise European Lithium (ASX:EUR) – funding transaction for Greenland project Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) – acquisition & cap raise Simble Solutions (ASX:SIS) – cap raise St Barbara (ASX:SBM) – production guidance update & mining lease renewal Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) – cap raise X2M Connect (ASX:X2M) – cap raise IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) has announced a $3.5 million underwritten, non-renounceable entitlement offer to advance gold exploration. A recently completed reverse circulation drilling program at Latitude 66's (ASX:LAT) K6 prospect has successfully tested gold-cobalt prospective targets. West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) will soon begin gold production at Qala Shallows after securing $14m in a share placement. Asian Battery Metals' (ASX:AZ9) regional drilling at the Yambat project in Mongolia has intersected ultramafic mineralisation at the MS1 target. A bargain basement deal to acquire the Weebo gold project will position Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG) between some of the giants of the WA gold sector. AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) has entered an agreement with Swiss Wyon AG to evaluate its Ultranode tech for medical applications. Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) has rolled out new preclinical data demonstrating significant neuroprotective effects of NUZ-001 and its active metabolite NUZ-001 Sulfone, in a zebrafish model of Huntington's disease.
ABC News
01-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Hydrogen and water offices dissolved as SA government shifts duties to department
The South Australian government has denied a decision to dissolve a standalone office for hydrogen signals a lack of commitment to the fuel source over the long term — but the opposition says it shows the plan now lies "in tatters". The Office of Hydrogen Power South Australia was created to carry out the state government's pre-election promise to build a hydrogen power station and electrolyser near Whyalla. Photo shows A green sign for Hydrogen Power SA erected on a vacant arid site in Whyalla The SA government's plan to build a major hydrogen electrolyser and power plant near Whyalla has been scrapped, with the premier blaming the lack of progress on a plan for green steel at the local steelworks for the decision. But in a statement to parliament, Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the office would "cease to function" and that its responsibilities would be transferred to the Department for Energy and Mining. The Office of Northern Water Delivery, which has overseen plans for a 260-megalitre desalination plant on Eyre Peninsula, will similarly be discontinued and will also have its functions absorbed by the department. The Whyalla hydrogen plant was But the proposed hydrogen An artist's impression of the now shelved hydrogen proposal. ( YouTube: Energy and Mining SA ) But Mr Koutsantonis said the long-term need for a hydrogen production facility had not changed. "Ultimately, one day you will need to have a hydrogen facility to decarbonise steel," he said. "That'll depend entirely on who purchases the steelworks, what their time frames are for investment in direct iron reduction and [an] electric arc furnace." Photo shows An artist's impression of an overhead view of the proposed Whyalla hydrogen project. Four years after the South Australian government's bold and ambitious — but very much hypothetical — hydrogen power plant was first announced, there have been inauspicious developments concerning its future. The government previously came under fire for keeping the hydrogen office open, and retaining its head Sam Crafter on a salary of more than half a million dollars, even after it shelved plans for the hydrogen plant. Mr Koutsantonis told parliament Mr Crafter had now been moved to a new role. "Sam Crafter, who has led the Office of Hydrogen Power SA, has been appointed to this new role of State Lead, Whyalla Steelworks Industrial Transformation, operating within the Department for Energy and Mining," he said. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said the developments were proof that the government's hydrogen plan had "failed". "Today's scrapping of the Office of Hydrogen Power and the Office of Northern Water Delivery confirms what is a complete failure of the government's much hyped state prosperity plan and the breaking of a key election," he said. "The two major projects of the plan now, quite frankly, lie in tatters. "There's been an eye-watering amount of money, taxpayer dollars, wasted on this hydrogen hoax and also mismanagement of the Northern Water Project. This is now raising serious concerns." Desal plant 'relies on' BHP In February last year, the Mr Koutsantonis was adamant the decision to discontinue the Office of Northern Water Delivery indicated not a move away from that project, but an "acceleration" of it. Mr Koutsantonis says the government is pushing ahead with its desalination plant plan. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) He said the government was now putting its mind to whether Mullaquana or Cape Hardy was the more suitable site. "The Office of Northern Water Delivery now has completed its task and that is now being put into the Department of Energy and Mining. We're moving onto the next stage, which are the negotiations with BHP," he said. "We've not reached final investment decision yet because it entirely relies on an agreement with BHP to purchase the water. "We're not going to build a desal plant and hope they buy it — we need a written agreement in place that they would purchase the water."
