Australian gas explorer Elixir Energy presents case for sector expansion to avert security of supply crisis
Australian coal-seam gas explorer Elixir Energy, the developer of CSG projects in Queensland and Mongolia and whose executive officers are industry veterans, has issued warnings about energy security in Australia.
Australian regulatory body approves EIG unit’s acquisition of Origin Energy that will see Saudi entry to LNG
The Australian regulatory and competition watchdog has waved through the A$18.7 billion (US$11.9Bln) buyout of Origin Energy by a North American consortium and with a resultant side-deal also giving Saudi Aramco access for the first time to the liquefied natural gas sector.
Australia’s Elixir Energy gives update on Mongolia commercial gas plans at project near Chinese border
Elixir Energy Ltd, the Australian-listed exploration and production company, has provide an update on the extended pilot production project underway in its 100-percent owned Nomgon coalbed methane (CBM) production sharing contract in the South Gobi Basin of south Mongolia near the Chinese border.
Shell earnings update
Jan 6 (LNGJ) - Shell Plc has updated its earnings forecast for Integrated Gas and the other divisions and sees lower liquefaction volumes in Australia. Shell said these lower volumes mainly reflected the longer than expected plant outage at the “Prelude FLNG” plant offshore northwest Australia and “operational issues” at the Queensland Curtis LNG export facility.
Shell’s adjusted earnings in Integrated Gas will see pre-tax depreciation of $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion. Shell added that its Trading and Optimisation earnings in the fourth quarter were “expected to be significantly higher” compared with the third quarter of 2022. In the Upstream division production was expected to be between 1,825 and 1,925 kboe/d.
Australian LNG shareholder Origin Energy sees shares soar after buy-out bid led by Canada's Brookfield
Origin Energy, the Australian upstream supplier to the Australia-Pacific LNG export plant in Queensland, saw its shares up 35 percent higher on November 14 as investors considered Origin’s backing for an A$18.4 billion (US$12.3 billion) buyout offer from a two-firm consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management.
Japanese LNG buyer Tokyo Gas agrees to sell stakes in four Australian export projects to EIG Global of US
Tokyo Gas, the second-largest Japanese LNG importer, has agreed to sell stakes held in four out of five LNG export projects in Australia, to the US-based private equity firm EIG Global Energy Partners.
Australia keeps World No. 1 spot as LNG exporter in 2021 but position under threat from US and Qatar
Australian exports of liquefied natural gas hit a record high in 2021 to keep the nation in the World No. 1 spot of global exporters from its 10 liquefaction plants in the East and West coasts and in the Northern Territory.
Sembcorp Marine of Singapore and Bechtel of US join forces for Australian Pluto LNG expansion modules
Sembcorp Marine of Singapore said it signed a contract with US engineering company Bechtel for module assembly of the second liquefaction Train proposed for Woodside’s Pluto LNG export project in Western Australia.
Origin Energy boosted by soaring Australia-Pacific LNG plant revenue ahead of stake sale to EIG fund
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 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.
