This week was Budget week. While the welfare lobby was up in arms, the oil and gas industry was very pleased.
The Government's decision to place caps on the effective life of assets, increased spending on Geoscience Australia and, given valuable assets such as the NWS Gas project, the increased funds allocated for border protection and anti-terrorism measures was welcomed by the industry.
During the Budget, the Government took the opportunity to dump the Trebeck Report into Australia's fuel tax regime citing its wish not to break a key electoral promise.
Despite unresolved "commercial issues", the treaty signing between East Timor and Australia looks set for 20 May, according to Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer.
It is back to square one for Woodside and its partners in the Greater Sunrise gas project. After spending big money to find out there were not many domestic customers for its Sunrise gas, the partners have agreed to an urgent review to see if there are any customers missed out first time around.
Duke Energy suffered a setback in its battle with the ACCC over access arrangements to its Queensland pipelines.
This week saw the closure of the Perth office of Kvaerner Engineering and Construction with the loss of over 50 jobs.
In the markets, Australian Gas Light finally entered the modern corporate age after the both Houses of the NSW parliament passed the AGL Corporate Conversion Bill.
Nautronix shrugged off both First Tech's demand for a detailed explanation for its latest profit downgrade and its second takeover attempt.
Australian Oil & Gas also this week formally rejected a takeover offer from Ensign while Tap Oil walked away from its bid for Arc Energy.
Sun Resources is in the market looking to raise funds for its exploration efforts in WA, NSW, PNG and USA.
Oversupply and "hyper" competition saw Shell Australia's downstream business announce a loss of $88 million. However the upstream side of the group managed a billion dollar profit.
Sydney Gas Company is looking to accelerate its Camden Gas Project with an upcoming aggressive drilling program and is holding an Open Day for its shareholders in the first week of June.
Lakes has spudded a second well designed to confirm the presence of Golden Beach Formation in the vicinity of the Steele Prospect.
A windpower facility north of Perth is being touted as part of a bold energy plan put forward by the coal mining outfit Griffen Energy.
The future of the oil shale project looks rosier after the Federal Government decided to extend an annual rebate that will include export sales to 12 months. However, Greenpeace is angry over this Government support for an industry it describes as dirty and uneconomic.
