Edited by Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald New Hope...

Edited by Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald

New Hope Corporation is understood to have emerged as a backer of Senex Energy’s potential move on smaller Cooper Basin oil and gas explorer Acer Energy.

Some Senex investors have voiced surprise at the company’s corporate ambitions, hinted at by the 6.42 per cent stake it has built in Acer Energy, which is still considering its response to a $116 million cash bid from Drillsearch Energy.

But they have apparently been informed that New Hope, which has outlined a plan to expand its emerging oil and gas business, is behind Senex’s move, and willing to help with funding.

The theory in some quarters is that the coalminer plans to acquire the combined Senex-Acer or at the very least take a significant stake.

New Hope has so far given little away about its oil and gas expansion drive, which will build on its most recent investment in the sector, the $76 million takeover of unlisted oil explorer Bridgeport Energy in July. Bridgeport’s assets are mostly in Queensland, and specifically the Eromanga Basin, part of the wider Cooper-Eromanga region where Acer is 100 per cent focused.

Buying Senex/Acer would both help satisfy New Hope’s aim of tripling oil output over the next three years and fit with its interest in unconventional coal seam and shale gas.

Still to be cleared up is whether Santos, Beach Energy and Cooper Energy are also eyeing Acer, which has yet to respond to Drillsearch’s offer. It should be noted Acer executives were spied in Adelaide – where the three potential acquirers are headquartered – last week.

Turning to the next round of the NSW power privatisation, an argument is being made that Citigroup may advise the government against an immediate sale of the Cobbora coal project.

While Citi has made early contact with a range of potential bidders, some argue that the chips may be stacked so heavily against a successful sale that Citi will instead advise the government to hold fire until coal market conditions pick up enough to guarantee healthier bid interest at more attractive prices.


The Australian Financial Review