LNG

Australian natural gas and oil production set new records in the third quarter and almost took the country to a run rate of one billion barrels of oil equivalent per annum, led by LNG output in Western Australia and the coming on stream of the Ichthys plant in the Northern Territory.

Australian liquefied natural gas revenues have surged because of rising oil prices and strong Chinese demand as gas output for the nation is now edging closer to that of Norway, though domestic political uncertainty is also increasing.

March 19 (LNGJ) - Japanese energy company Inpex Corp., the main stakeholder in the Australian Ichthys LNG export plant under construction at Bladin Point near Darwin in the Northern Territory, said it was awarded an exploration permit for WA-533-P as operator in Australia’s latest acreage release. “The block is located off the northern coast of Western Australia and covers a surface area of 12,402 square kilometres. The block’s water depth ranges between approximately 50 metres and 600 metres,” said Inpex. The block lies on an offshore extension of the onshore Canning Basin in Western Australia where promising fields have already been discovered and developed. The Ichthys LNG project is being developed with French energy company Total and is scheduled to come on stream later in 2018.

The Australian government said the nation’s LNG exports were valued at A$22 billion (US$17.2Bln) in 2016-2017 and will increase to A$36Bln (US28.2Bln) in 2018-2019, driven by higher export volumes and, to a lesser extent, higher prices.

Australian East Coast LNG production in the state of Queensland and domestic natural gas output increased in the second quarter by around 19 percent and 12 percent respectively as oil output plunged to a 40-year low, leaving the nation possibly vulnerable to Asian refinery disruptions.