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Australian Lng News

22 Aug 2023

Asian Buyers May Seek US LNG if Australian Disputes Worsen

© moofushi / Adobe Stock

Major Asian buyers of LNG could seek US cargoes in the coming weeks if worker-related disputes at key LNG facilities in Australia escalate, analysts said, as electricity demand continues surge due to warm weather.Uncertainty over labour disputes at western Australian facilities run by Woodside Energy Group and U.S. major Chevron have spurred Asian LNG prices to their highest in five months, and analysts say they could rise further.As many as 700 workers at the Australian facilities could potentially down tools over pay and job security, the first of them as early as Sept.

28 Nov 2022

Woodside Energy Delivers LNG from Australia's North West Shelf to Europe

Australian oil and gas company Woodside Energy said Monday it had delivered an LNG cargo to Europe on board the Woodside Rees Withers LNG carrier from Australia’s North West Shelf. The cargo of approximately 75,000 tonnes of LNG (100 million cubic meters of natural gas) was delivered on November 27, 2022, to Uniper Global Commodities SE (Uniper) at the Gate Terminal located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherladns. Woodside said the cargo would contribute to natural gas supply in Northwest and Central Europe. Woodside Executive Vice President Marketing & Trading Mark Abbotsford said the company was "pleased to have concluded the trade…

12 Aug 2022

Uniper Looking to Swap Australian LNG for Atlantic Gas to Supply Europe Quicker

Credit; Woodside (file photo)

Germany's Uniper is prepared to swap liquefied natural gas (LNG) it gets from Australia's Woodside or U.S. gas, so it can boost supplies in Europe more quickly during the coming winter, it said.The strategy reflects efforts by companies and governments across Europe to seek alternative lines of supply and draw up contingency plans for the winter gas season, fearing Moscow could fully stop supplies of natural gas. In case of supply shortages, Uniper could make available to customers in Europe, U.S.

03 Dec 2021

Australian LNG Hit by Shell, Chevron Outages at Prelude, Gorgon

The Prelude FLNG facility, with the Valencia Knutsen berthed side-by-side (File Photo: Shell)

Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) site and Chevron Corp shut one of three processing units at its Gorgon LNG plant, both off northwestern Australia, the companies said on Friday.The Gorgon and Prelude outages are expected to boost spot LNG prices, which are up about 20% from a month ago.Shell said Prelude was hit by a power outage on Thursday after smoke was detected in an electrical utility area, and the facility is operating on back-up diesel generators.

19 Sep 2019

Woodside in LNG Supply Deal with Uniper

Australian LNG producer Woodside signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with Uniper Global Commodities SE for a long-term (13 years) supply deal which would kick off in 2021.The quantity of LNG to be supplied will initially be up to 0.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), increasing to approximately 1 Mtpa from 2025.Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said the HOA, signed at Gastech in Houston, builds on previous LNG supply arrangements between Woodside and Uniper.“This HOA deepens our relationship with Uniper, an international energy company and a leading player in global gas markets. It is also another strong signal of market support for our plans to expand the Pluto LNG facility in Western Australia…

28 Aug 2019

ADNOC Logistics Joins LNG MFI

The LNG Marine Fuel Institute, a non for profit organization based in Perth,  announced the membership of ADNOC Logistics & Services with the growing coalition of companies committed to Australian LNG is the primary marine fuel in transition to carbon free shipping.Captain Mohamed Al Ali, Senior Vice President - Ship Management at ADNOC Logistics & Services  said:  â€śOur partnership with LNG MFI will add value for the development of LNG as a marine fuel, contributing in supporting the marine industry in Australia and neighbouring countries, in line with our ongoing effort to foster a sustainable environment for our trade”.Headquartered in Abu Dhabi…

12 Aug 2019

Australia Set to be the King of LNG Exports

Australia is on track to surpass Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter, according to Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science (DIIS).Australia already surpasses Qatar in LNG export capacity and exported more LNG than Qatar in November 2018 and April 2019, said a release from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).Within the next year, as Australia’s newly commissioned projects ramp up and operate at full capacity, EIA expects Australia to consistently export more LNG than Qatar, it said.Australia’s LNG export capacity increased from 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2011 to more than 11.4 Bcf/d in 2019.

04 Jun 2019

Australia to be World's Largest LNG Exporter

Australia is all set to become the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) next year and to retain that position until 2024, when Qatar will reclaim the top spot, said a report by Rystad Energy'“Australia has no intention of relinquishing its hard-earned LNG crown without a fight. Over the next two years, pending approvals on up to seven Australian integrated LNG projects could challenge Qatar as the country with the largest sanctioned LNG volumes from integrated projects during that period,” says Readul Islam, Research Analyst on Rystad Energy’s Upstream team.These seven Australian LNG projects will collectively supply just over 30 million tonnes per annum (tpa) at full capacity…

28 Feb 2019

Global LNG Demand to Rise by 35mt in 2019

Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply is set to rise by 35 million tons (mt) in 2019, Trend reports with reference to forecasts of Royal Dutch Shell. Acording to Shell’s latest annual LNG Outlook, Europe and Asia are expected to absorb all this additional supply.Strong demand for cleaner-burning fuel in Asia continued to drive rapid growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) use in 2018, with global demand rising by 27 million tons to 319 million tons, according to Shell’s latest annual LNG Outlook. Shell expects demand to reach about 384 million tons in 2020. A rebound in new long-term LNG contracting in 2018 could revive investment in liquefaction projects.Based on current demand projections…

24 Dec 2018

Australia’s LNG Export to Jump 60% in FY 2018-19

Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export earnings have been revised upwards for 2018-19 and are forecast to total $50.4 billion, an increase of nearly 60 per cent compared to 2017-18, overtaking metallurgical coal as Australia’s second largest resources and energy export.APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts said the Resources and Energy Quarterly December 2018 data reinforced how critical LNG exports are to sustaining Australia’s economic growth.“Australia’s LNG projects will deliver decades of economic growth, jobs and exports. These national benefits aside, LNG exports have regional and global environmental benefits,” Dr Roberts said.“When used to replace coal, LNG cuts emissions.

22 Dec 2018

AGL's Crib Point Selects Höegh LNG FSRU

The floating LNG services provider Höegh LNG Holdings announced that it has entered into a time charter party with Australian utility company AGL Shipping Pty for the provision of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to facilitate its proposed Gas Import Jetty project at Crib Point, Victoria, Australia.The project is targeting start up in 2020 – 2021, said a press note.The charter is for a period of 10 years and remains conditional on the board of directors of AGL Shipping's parent company AGL Energy Ltd. taking a final investment decision in relation to the project and receipt by the charterer of key environmental project…

27 Jun 2018

Woodside Mulls Texas Sempra LNG Exit

The chief executive officer of Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Tuesday that Australia's biggest independent oil and natural gas company will soon decide whether to continue to invest in Sempra Energy's Port Arthur liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Texas. "We've got to make some decisions pretty soon about our continued pursuit (of Port Arthur) with Sempra," said Coleman, noting that Woodside has been paying part of the project's development costs. "What we've been doing is just paying our way (with Port Arthur), and whether that is going to give us an adequate return, I would say today that is very challenged," Coleman said.

30 Apr 2018

Chevron to Idle Gorgon LNG Unit in May

Chevron will idle the second production unit at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in May to carry out modifications already implemented at the other two units, a senior executive said.Pat Yarrington, Chevron's vice president and chief financial officer, said in an earnings call on Friday that Gorgon Train 2 in Australia has a planned "pit stop" in May for crews to replicate performance improvement modifications.Traders said the maintenance is expected to last 30 days.The work will focus on remedying vibration problems already fixed on Trains 1 and 3, they said.A company spokesman declined to comment on the maintenance duration or the issues being addressed.Meanwhile…

24 Apr 2018

Shell, Inpex Race to Export Aussie LNG

Shell aims to start exports from Prelude LNG this year; Inpex hopes to commence shipments from Ichthys LNG. Shell and Inpex are on the final stretch of a years-long race to export gas from offshore northern Australia, where both have spent billions of dollars building the world's biggest maritime vessels to grab a slice of Asia's booming LNG market. Anglo-Dutch energy major Royal Dutch Shell and Inpex, Japan's biggest oil and gas producer, are vying for first gas from two overlapping fields after delays and cost overruns that have plagued both projects. The pair have spent billions on offshore facilities, including Shell's 490 metre (1,600 ft) long Prelude floating liquefied natural gas unit and Inpex's Ichthys Explorer semi-submersible platform, both the world's largest of their class.

31 Oct 2017

Wheatstone LNG Facility Exports First Cargo to Japan

(Photo: Chevron)

Australia's Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, after starting production earlier this month, has shipped its first export cargo to a buyer in Japan, majority owner and operator Chevron Corp said on Tuesday. Wheatstone is the sixth out of eight projects in a $200 billion Australian LNG construction boom that is now in its final stretch. The two remaining project due to for start-up are Royal Dutch Shell's Prelude floating LNG project and Ichthys, led by Japan's Inpex.

29 Jun 2017

LNG Marine Fuel Institute Launched in Canberra

ToPH CEO David Pentz and Mayor Camilo Blanco with Richard Sandover from Jackson McDonald and Mike Utsler, Chief Operating Officer for Woodside Energy. (Photo: Town of Port Hedland)

Port Hedland Mayor, Camilo Blanco, and the Town of Port Hedland’s CEO, David Pentz, attended the launch of the LNG Marine Fuel Institute at Parliament House, Canberra on Wednesday, June 21. The Institute, which was opened by The Honorable Josh Frydenberg MP, Federal Minister for the Environment and Energy, hopes to see Australian LNG as the primary fuel for marine transportation, powering the road, rail and mining industries. Mayor Blanco said that the Institute will work with industry and Government partners to position Australia at the forefront of LNG…

21 Apr 2017

South Korean Tender Stirs LNG Market

© Oleksandr Prykhodko / Adobe Stock

Asian spot LNG prices jumped this week, buoyed by hopes Korea Gas Corp's new tender would match past buying sprees and by emerging demand from China and Japan. Spot prices for June delivery rose to $5.70 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), a 20 cent jump over last week, but traders cited sharply divergent views on pricing, saying the disagreements contributed to market inertia. Still, Korea Gas Corp's Thursday tender for June and July supply - set to close on April 26 - immediately stirred up bullish offers, rescuing an otherwise muted trading week.

03 Feb 2017

Sino-Australian Seaborne Trade

In recent decades, trade between the Australia and China have made an increasingly significant contribution to growth in global seaborne trade, and the signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015 is driving further co-operation, says a report by Clarkson Research Services. But just how important has the impact of trade between these two countries been? Between 2006 and 2016, Chinese imports from Australia grew by a CAGR of 17% p.a. to reach an estimated 792mt in 2016. The sheer volume of trade flowing between the two countries has meant each now fulfils a vital role for the other. Australia is China’s top trade partner by some distance in terms of tonnes, with more than a third of China’s seaborne imports in tonnes sourced from Australia in 2016, up from a fifth in 2006.

26 Jan 2017

Australian LNG Projects Face Delays, Benefiting US Producers

Shell's Prelude floating LNG production vessel (Photo: Shell)

Australia's plans for a huge increase in its production of liquefied natural gas are being dealt a big blow by a series of production delays, as energy companies struggle with technical problems and cost overruns. The country is still likely to become the world's biggest LNG exporter, dispatching about 85 million tonnes a year by the end of the decade, up from 30.7 million tonnes in 2015 and 45.1 million tonnes last year. But the pace of growth is much slower than expected because…

15 Dec 2016

Australian LNG-fueled RO/RO Enters Service

Searoad Mersey II (Photo: SeaRoad Holdings)

A brand new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled roll-on-roll-off freight vessel, Searoad Mersey II, has commenced service from its home port Devonport, in northern Tasmania, Australia. Touted by Bass Strait shipping and logistics firm SeaRoad as the “cleanest, greenest freight ship ever to trade in Australian waters”, Searoad Mersey II is the first coastal ship in Australia to use LNG fuel-and-power technology and the first pure dry cargo ship in the world to use a roll-on roll-off LNG supply system.

09 Sep 2016

LNG Investment Swings to North America

The LNG industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation. North American activity (the majority of which is committed spend) is driving a return to growth in global capital expenditure. A wave of new LNG carrier newbuilds will also be required to support a huge increase in traded base-load LNG volumes. Douglas-Westwood’s (DW) new World LNG Market Forecast 2017-2021 indicates global LNG expenditure will total $284 billion (bn) between 2017 and 2021. This represents a 50% growth compared with the preceding five-year period. Report author, Mark Adeosun, commented, “Liquefaction terminals will remain the principal driver of expenditure with spend in the segment totalling $192bn. This will subsequently lead to a 42% increase in liquefaction capacity by the end of the forecast period.

09 Jun 2016

No New Australian LNG Projects Doesn't Mean No New LNG

Conventional wisdom in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector is that no new projects will be built for several years, given the vast cost can't be reconciled with the current low prices. This view has led some in the industry to predict that the market will flip back to a structural shortage sometime in the early to mid-2020s, once again sending prices soaring as new supply takes so long to be built and become operational. The cancellation or deferment of investment decisions on several projects in Australia, Canada, the United States and elsewhere seems to perfectly illustrate the view that no new LNG will be coming to market once the plants currently under construction are completed.

29 Apr 2016

Pressure Steady on LNG Shipping Rates -Drewry

LNG shipowners will have to wait until 2018 for earnings to improve, when the majority of new US plants are expected to come online, according to the latest edition of the LNG Forecaster report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. The first quarter of 2016 was no better than the previous quarter for LNG shipowners as spot rates remained low at around $30,000pd. Two new liquefaction plants, Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) in Australia and Sabine Pass LNG in the US, began operations in the first quarter of 2016. But freight rates for LNG carriers remain low despite the new liquefaction trains coming online. The ramping up of Australian LNG exports will not bring any respite to LNG shipowners given the short-haul voyage distance between Oceania and Asian markets.