CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Origin Energy Limited (ORG.AX, OGFGF.PK) said it continues to caution against arbitrary or unrealistic gas price expectations, noting the cost of domestic gas must reflect the lifecycle cost of production, and that gas producers should be able to earn a return on the significant capital required to bring gas supply to market.
The company said that it has reaffirmed all fiscal year 2021 guidance and noted the considerable uncertainty created by the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, which has contributed to a more challenging outlook for the year.
Energy Markets Underlying EBITDA guidance is expected to be A$1.15 billion - A$1.3 billion, reflecting lower electricity gross profit due to pass-through of lower wholesale prices to customers and higher network costs absorbed in the regulated tariffs and lower natural gas gross profit with legacy contracts rolling off and tariff repricing, partially offset by a targeted $70 million reduction in cost to serve.
Australia Pacific LNG production is expected to be 650-680 petajoules.
At the 2020 virtual Annual General Meeting, the company's chief executive officer, Frank Calabria, said that the company's operational performance continued to improve driving growth in free cash flow, allowing further debt reduction, disciplined investment in growth opportunities and distributions to shareholders.
The company noted that Gordon Cairns, who has been chairman since 2013, steps down Tuesday.
The company's Chairman Gordon Cairns said that the company is accelerating towards clean energy, through commitment to halve its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2032.
The company has recently announced plans to update its emissions reduction targets to a 1.5°C pathway, with a longer term aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
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