Australian Energy Market Operator says East Coast gas prices hit records amid Asian LNG demand surge
Australian wholesale natural gas prices more than doubled year-on-year and the three LNG plants in the state of Queensland shipped record volumes in the July-to-September period because of higher spot LNG prices and firm demand ahead of the North Asia winter.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said that total East Coast Australia gas demand increased by 5 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period of 2020.
In its third-quarter “Quarterly Energy Dynamics” report, AEMO gave an overview of prices and said that year-to-date demand for LNG from the three state of Queensland export plants, which have a combined nameplate capacity of 25.3 million tonnes per annum, came to over 20.5MT of LNG during the first nine months of 2021.
AEMO noted that the quarterly average prices were at record levels across all East Coast gas markets, averaging $10.74 per gigajoule (GJ) compared with $4.47 per GJ in the third quarter of 2020.
“It is the first time every market has averaged over $10 per GJ,” said the report.
The various Australian wholesale natural gas markets saw prices rising in Adelaide by 113 percent, Brisbane by 155 percent and Sydney logging an increase of 156 percent.
“Queensland LNG exports continue to be influenced by strong Asian LNG demand and record high international gas prices,” said the AEMO report.
“Demand for Queensland LNG is usually lower in the Northern Hemisphere summer but Q3 2021 demand was the highest Q3 on record, and the fourth highest quarter on record,” it added.
“Year-to-date demand has totalled 1,038 PJ, the first time demand has exceeded 1,000 PJ in the first three quarters of the calendar year and is tracking 62 PJ higher than the previous record in 2019,” stated AEMO.
By participant, the Santos-operated Gladstone Liquified Natural Gas (GLNG) recorded the largest increase of 27.7 PJ, while Shell’s Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) increased by 2.4 PJ, and Australia-Pacific LNG (APLNG), operated by ConocoPhillips, increased by 2.1 PJ.
The report added that there were 87 LNG cargoes exported from Queensland in the July-September quarter, up from 78 in the same period in 2020.
The number of GLNG cargoes exported increased from 21 to 29 over the same period, QCLNG cargoes numbers rose from 28 to 29, while APLNG cargoes numbers were unchanged at 29.
