MELBOURNE, Australia--The sharp fall in energy prices could open
the door for Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to pick up assets in
Australia, where the company continues to assess whether to develop
deeper gas fields in the Bass Strait.
The company is well position to consider a range of
opportunities that might come up, including assets that could be
bolted on to existing operations, Richard Owen, the chairman of
Exxon's Australian business, said Wednesday.
"It's a very interesting time in Australia because we'll see
what happens to a lot of the companies that have taken certain
positions based on price and what happens to them," he told
reporters in Melbourne.
Mr. Owen said that at the moment gas markets were particularly
difficult to "read." All of the energy company's investments needed
to be regularly tested against a range of potential price outcomes,
he added.
In the Bass Strait off mainland Australia's south coast, where
Exxon's Esso unit and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) began drilling in
1965, future gas reservoirs are more expensive to develop since
they are smaller, deeper and have higher levels of impurities. That
makes any decision on development more dependent on the price for
the fuel and on developing technologies, although Mr. Owen said the
value of gas had risen over the years the company has been
operating in the Strait as global demand has grown.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
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