LNG

Origin Energy, the Australian upstream supplier to the Australia-Pacific LNG export plant in Queensland, said it expected a sizeable increase in underlying earnings from its utilities business, though signalled possible lower coal-seam-gas output affecting APLNG because of weather issues.

Origin Energy, the Australian utility, reported quarterly revenue of A$633.7 (US$477M) from the Australia-Pacific LNG plant where it has a 37.5 percent share, part of which will be sold to EIG Global Energy Partners, an institutional investor in the sector.

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.

Australian LNG plant operator Santos, with stakes in two Australian plants and Papua New Guinea LNG, said the past quarter represented the “the trough for LNG prices”, with higher prices expected on oil-linked contract and Japan-Korea Marker spot prices through to the New Year.

Australian energy company Santos reported average LNG prices of over $9 in the fourth quarter and higher sales at the Gladstone export plant in Queensland, driven by stronger upstream equity gas production and a record 393 coal-seam gas wells drilled. 

Golar LNG Chairman Olav Troim apologized to shareholders about the recent earnings disappointments and expressed confidence about strategy and the key role of natural gas in the energy mix for many years to come, leading to a rise in the two Golar shares listed on the Nasdaq global exchange, one by more than 5 percent.

Australian energy company Santos and its Gladstone LNG plant partners have signed an additional agreement to deliver about 2 percent of expected 2018 domestic gas demand from the export portfolio into the Australian East Coast market following concerns about prices and volumes from the government and regulators.

Australian energy company Santos, a stakeholder in three Asia-Pacific LNG export plants, said in its second-quarter earnings it was successfully tackling its debt issues helped by improving LNG prices as it also planned increases in domestic market volumes in the state of Queensland.

July 18 (LNGJ) – The 172,000 cubic metres capacity “Beidou Star” is scheduled to deliver a shipment on July 24 to the Chinese Dalian import terminal, owned by PetroChina, from the Gorgon export plant on Barrow Island in Western Australia, operated by Chevron, according to shipping data. The 174,100 cubic metres capacity “Cesi Qingdao” will deliver a cargo on July 24 to the Tangshan terminal in Hebei province, owned by Sinopec, from the Australia Pacific LNG plant in Gladstone in Queensland.

Australian company LNG Ltd said it was no longer proceeding with its plans for a coal-seam-gas-to-LNG project at the Fisherman’s Landing site it acquired at the Port of Gladstone in the eastern Australian state of Queensland where three other plants are in operation.