I’ve made the point many times that the shareholders of big miners and the citizens of Australia share very little in common interests despite the grovelling of our media and pollies. BHP proves the point again today, from the SMH blog:
Reigniting a sensitive issue between Australian LNG producers and their major customers in Japan, BHP marketing boss Mike Henry told an audience of Australian and Japanese business leaders that gas pricing markets were less transparent and liquid than they should be, and a move toward pure market pricing for gas was needed.
Japanese power companies have campaigned for several years to sever the link between LNG prices and oil prices because it was forcing them to pay more for gas than consumers in Australia and North America.
…Gas exporters like Santos have traditionally opposed such changes because they would likely lead to lower received prices…
Indeed they would, damaging Australian income. But BHP’s gas is unconventional and in the United States so it’s more in its shareholder’s interests to sell the short-comings of contract pricing and get Japan buying Henry Hub.
