LNG

The Australian Government said the nation’s LNG export revenues are expected to decline from A$72 billion (US$47Bln) in the current fiscal year to just under A$45Bln by 2028-2029 as volumes flow in a tight market, though prices will ease in real terms towards the end of the decade.

Origin Energy, a shareholder in the Australia Pacific LNG plant in Queensland with Sinopec of China and ConocoPhillips, reported record revenue from its share of 33 cargoes shipped in the first quarter at an average price of US$10.84 per million British thermal units.

Origin said the selling price for first-quarter cargoes was 2 percent higher than the US$10.59 per MMBtu price in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 34 percent up on the average price of US$8.10 per MMBtu fetched in the first three months of 2018.

“JCC (long-term contract) prices softened in the early part of the quarter, as economic growth concerns and US sanction waivers for Iran helped ease oil market tightness. Prices have since recovered, driven by OPEC output cuts and further supply outages in Venezuela,” explained Origin in its quarterly activities report.

The APLNG cargoes shipped in the first quarter were only three more than the 30 that departed in the same three months of 2018.

The plant produces almost 9 million tonnes per annum from two Trains and 7.6MTPA is contracted to Sinopec, whose formal name is China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation.

Sydney-based Origin said its share of production from the APLNG plant at Curtis Island was 834,100 tonnes in the first quarter, a 3 percent rise on the 772,800 tonnes taken in the year-ago quarter.

Origin said its more than one-third share of APLNG sales brought in record revenue of A$763.9 million (US$540), a 53 percent increase compared with the A$499.9M earned in the same quarter of 2018.

Origin runs two divisions, Integrated Gas, including upstream coal-seam gas for LNG, and Energy Markets, its gas and electricity retail and wholesale business.

Domestic natural gas sales brought in A$75M in the quarter, down 17 percent from the previous quarter’s A$90M, though also lower than the year-ago period’s A$82.7M.

“Natural gas sales decreased 10 percent on the prior quarter, reflecting seasonal demand and the ending of short-term wholesale contracts in Queensland. This decline in sales was partly offset by more gas utilised in generation,” said Origin.

Origin Chief Executive Frank Calabria said the APLNG plant continued to deliver strong earnings.

“This result was driven by continued reliable operational performance and higher realised commodity prices,” explained Calabria.

“In the Energy Markets business, our power stations performed solidly over the summer and were ready and available during heatwave conditions which occurred across much of the country in January and again in March,” he added.

“While gas sales to wholesale customers declined in the quarter, we directed additional gas to generation where it helped to meet peak summer demand in the electricity market,” stated the CEO.

Woodside Petroleum, operator of two LNG plants in Western Australia and a shareholder in a third facility, posted a 4.4 percent increase in first-quarter sales revenue of US$1.22 billion as higher prices made up for lower volumes caused by cyclone disruptions.

Woodside’s quarterly share of one-sixth of production at the North West Shelf plant it operates amounted to 617,164 tonnes and sold for US$318 million, a decline compared with the 667,332 tonnes marketed in the same three months of 2018.

The NWS cargoes were sold at an average price of US$9.4 per million British thermal units versus US$7.8 per MMBtu in the same quarter of 2018.

The Woodside-run Pluto LNG plant achieved output during the quarter of 1.08 million tonnes, slightly lower than 1.10MT logged in the year-ago quarter, and returned revenues of US$591M.

The Pluto cargoes were sold at an average price of US$10.0 per MMBtu compared with US$9.0 per MMBtu in the same quarter of 2018.

The Perth-based company additionally received 271,826 tonnes of LNG from its share of the Wheatstone plant near Onslow in Western Australia. The Wheatstone LNG revenue came to US$108M.

The Wheatstone cargoes were sold at an average price of US$11.9 per million British thermal units compared with US$8.9 per MMBtu in the same quarter of 2018.

Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman said there had been significant progress on plans to develop the Burrup Hub, including a supply accord signed with ENN Group of China that further demonstrated market support for the development of the Scarborough gas resource through an expansion of Pluto LNG.

“Woodside’s revenue increased compared with the corresponding period in 2018 due to higher realised prices. Despite disruption to operations from cyclone activity, our cyclone preparedness ensured safety was maintained and the impact on production was minimised,” explained Coleman.

“The ten-year Heads of Agreement signed in Shanghai with ENN Group is expected to start in 2025 and is evidence of global demand for long-term LNG supply from our proposed Burrup Hub,” said the CEO.

“We are pioneering the development of new domestic markets for LNG in Western Australia. Our new truck loading facility at Pluto LNG was completed in March and will supply LNG for use in remote power generation and transport in the Pilbara and beyond, reducing regional emissions through the replacement of diesel fuel,” he added.

“We also reached a significant milestone in March with the start of domestic gas production at Wheatstone,” stated Coleman.