Replies to post #2113 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[old man]

BHP may move on acquisitions per this pr. Link has pic of ceo.
John

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/bhp-may-move-on-acquisitions/story-e6frfh4f-1226009108668

BHP may move on acquisitions



Marius Kloppers

BHP Billiton Chief Marius Kloppers says oil and gas could represent great business opportunities in the future. Picture: Naashon Zalk/Bloomberg Source: Bloomberg

BHP-Billiton chief Marius Kloppers has hinted strongly that the minerals giant may turn its sights on takeovers in the oil and gas industry.

Mr Kloppers said yesterday that a move on possible targets might be 12 months off -- but they were not off his agenda.

"The oil and gas market is a very large one where there may be opportunities going forward," Mr Kloppers told ABC television.

His comments lend strength to reports the Big Australian may make a tilt at Woodside Petroleum after Royal Dutch Shell quit a third of its stake in the North-West Shelf enterprise for $3.3 billion last November.

BHP has long been mooted as a potential bidder for Woodside and speculation about a deal with Woodside heightened after the Canadian Government rejected BHP's $38.4 billion takeover bid for Potash Corp.

BHP has focused on Woodside a number of times, but considers the company is overvalued.

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Related Coverage

* Kloppers on lookout for BHP Adelaide Now, 6 hours ago
* No takeovers on the horizon: Kloppers The Australian, 12 hours ago
* BHP could play predator, says Deutsche The Australian, 3 days ago
* BHP scores $10.5b jackpot Courier Mail, 4 days ago
* Cashed-up BHP to grow and buy back Adelaide Now, 4 days ago

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Industry sources have suggested a bid would require up to $45 billion. But should some of Woodside's projects stall, the share price could come under pressure, making the company attractive.

Yesterday, Mr Kloppers told the ABC's Inside Business program that BHP had confronted regulatory constraints on non-organic growth of its iron ore business.

"But in many of the other products, potash, copper, and oil and gas, there are no such constraints," he said.

"Obviously, the oil and gas market is a very large one where there may be opportunities."

Pressed whether merger and acquisition were off the agenda after a string of failed deals, Mr Kloppers replied that they were not.

"In six months' time, or a year's time, something else may come up, the situation may change," he said.

On minerals, he said BHP was in a prime position to cash in on continuing high prices for iron ore and other commodities.

He said the commodities story would be one where supply lagged demand because global competitors slashed spending on new production during the financial crisis.

[DewDiligence]

BHP repurchases US$6.3B of its own shares in off-market transaction at average price of A$40.85/sh:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/10/bhpbilliton-idUSL3E7FA0DH20110410

The buyback constitutes about 2.5% of the outstanding shares of the dual-listed BHP/BBL. (As previously noted, BBL is the cheaper and better way to own shares of this company.) Together with buybacks previously implemented during the current fiscal year, BHP has now used up $7.8B of the $10B buyback commitment announced two months ago (#msg-60136197).

[DewDiligence]

BHP Logs Record Iron Production in FY2011; Coal Down from Floods

[BHP just reported its production and exploration results for the FY ending 6/30/11; these documents are http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811809/000119312511191761/d6k.htm and http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811809/000119312511191776/d6k.htm , respectively. BHP will report FY2011 earnings in August.]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576456960313503484.html

›JULY 20, 2011
By ROBB M. STEWART

MELBOURNE—BHP Billiton Ltd. has paved the way for another year of strong earnings after record production of several commodities including iron ore, although output of metallurgical coal, which is also used to produce steel, continues to be held sharply back by earlier flooding in northeastern Australia.

BHP said Wednesday it achieved an 11th consecutive production record for iron ore, with output up 8% in the year through June 30 at 134.4 million metric tons and 14% higher than a year before in the final quarter. The company shipped ore from its operations in Western Australia state at an annualized rate of 155 million tons a year in the fiscal fourth quarter, it said.

However, metallurgical coal output was 13% lower for the year at 32.7 million tons. BHP said it continues to expect production and sales will be impacted "to some extent" over the remainder of the calendar year by the monsoon rains and flooding that swept Queensland in late 2010 and early this year. Output showed a recovery in the June quarter, up 19% on the prior quarter but down 28% on record volumes in the same quarter last year.

Rio Tinto PLC, the world's second-largest iron ore producer by volume behind Brazil's Vale SA and ahead of BHP, was also hit by the rain and cyclones that battered Australia early in 2011. It said last week iron ore output rose 12% year-to-year in the June quarter and its coal operations were recovering from flooding, but cautioned that while most of its metals and minerals continued to see strong prices, it was also encountering "worsening adverse exchange rates and some input cost pressures."

BHP and Rio are investing billions of dollars expanding mineral production capacity, primarily to feed a growing demand in rapidly industrializing Asia that has helped buoy commodity prices [no kidding].

BHP also is growing its petroleum division, and last week said it would buy Petrohawk Energy Corp. for $12.1 billion to gain large shale assets in Texas and Louisiana in one of the year's largest deals [#msg-65211152].

BHP, one of the world's biggest listed companies, said higher natural gas production following the acquisition earlier in 2011 of the Fayetteville shale assets in the U.S. helped lift petroleum output 6% year-to-year in the June quarter and 1% for the financial year to 159.4 million barrels of oil equivalent. [159.4M boe for the year comes to 437K boe/d; in FY4Q11, the rate was 480K boe/d; this will grow to about 650K boe/d following the HK acquisition.] Excluding the Fayetteville acquisition, BHP said it still expects production to be lower in the 2012 financial year [due to the lingering effect of the GoM moratorium].

"Despite the fact that recovery remains progressive in Queensland Coal, this was an impressive result," Macquarie said in a research note to clients, adding it expected minimal revisions to its full-year earnings forecast.‹