APLNG boosts gas supplies to Australian market
Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) has supplied an additional 7.9 PJ of gas to the domestic market since May, including finalising the sale of 1.2 PJ to major energy retailers to support their last resort obligations, the company said on August 17.
APLNG, a joint venture comprising Origin, ConocoPhillips and China's Sinopec, is Australia’s largest producer of coalbed methane (CBM) and supplies gas to Queensland’s domestic gas market, while also processing CBM into LNG for exports.
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The company said that the incremental gas sales were a direct response to tight gas supply conditions in the domestic market and in addition to APLNG’s medium and long-term contract commitments to domestic customers. Australian competition watchdog ACCC on August 1 forecast a 56 PJ shortfall to the east coast market for 2023.
APLNG CEO Khoa Dao said demand for gas on the east coast rose sharply over May and June after a cold snap, coal power plant outages and coal supply challenges, as well as lower renewables output due to weather, increasing the reliance on gas-fired generation.
“These factors contributed to tight supply in the market, and Australia Pacific LNG responded by executing a number of short-term sales with customers, including EnergyAustralia and AGL,” he said.
In FY2022, APLNG provided more than 150 PJs of gas to domestic customers, mostly under medium- and long-term gas supply agreements at prices that were locked in well before this year’s market volatility.