(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
May 8 (Reuters) - Shares of Australian liquefied natural
gas (LNG) producers rose on Monday after the government adopted
more favourable-than-expected changes to petroleum tax, ensuring
the load was shared across the industry and did not impact
growth projects.
Woodside Energy Group Ltd , the country's biggest
independent oil and gas producer, was trading 3.1% higher, while
closest rival Santos Ltd was up 1.6% as at 0031 GMT.
Beach Energy Ltd jumped 2.3%.
Over the weekend, Australia announced plans to change its
Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) to increase the tax paid by
the offshore LNG industry, moves that should increase revenue by
A$2.4 billion ($1.6 billion) over the next four fiscal years.
The government will adopt eight of the 11 recommendations
from a Treasury review of gas transfer pricing rules, including
a key proposal that will limit the proportion of PRRT assessable
income on LNG projects that can be offset by deductions to 90%
from July 1.
"The deductions cap seems to have struck a good balance
between sharing the load across industry, earning more cash tax
for government, and not threatening economics of growth
projects," analysts at Citi wrote in a note.
"Treasury was cognisant not to introduce a system whereby
the extraction of higher cash receipts for an 'equitable'
outcome for Australians meant we also didn't extract our own
natural resources."
Woodside and Santos did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
Citi analysts expect this to be the last change to PRRT
before the legislation expires in April 2026, when it may
require an overhaul.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.