Australia’s LNG Sales Surge in 2017
Australia’s LNG exports totalled 56.8mn metric tons in 2017, surging by 26.3% from the 44.9mn metric tons shipped the year prior, advisory firm EnergyQuest said January 16.
Combined with higher oil prices, the increase in volumes pushed up Australia’s 2017 LNG revenue by 44.1% to A$25.8bn [$20.56bn], it said.
EnergyQuest CEO Graeme Bethune described 2017 as a “watershed year” for Australia’s LNG industry, which benefited from demand growth in China.
Total Australian LNG exports to China surged by 40.5% year on year from 12.4mn metric tons to 17.5mn metric tons, which saw China become Australia’s second-largest LNG market and Australia China’s biggest LNG supplier.
“China is making a massive switch from coal to gas to reduce air pollution in major cities such as Beijing – and now Australian LNG is playing a significant role in achieving this goal,” Bethune said.
The 2017 total also saw LNG jump from Australia’s fifth largest export in 2016 to third largest, overtaking gold and education, he said.
“To put [A]$25.8bn of revenue in perspective, this is more than the cost of Australia’s imports of passenger vehicles, which was [A]$21.8bn in 2016-17. Passenger vehicles are Australia’s second biggest import cost,” he said. Australia is the world’s second-biggest LNG exporter by a substantial margin and catching up with Qatar.
Last week, Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science said world LNG trade in 2017 is expected to have totalled 277.5mn metric tons, which would mean Australian volumes accounted for 20%.
The Department expects world trade to climb to 304.8mn metric tons this year and to 325.6mn metric tons next year. It forecasts Australia’s LNG export volumes to climb from 63mn metric tons in fiscal 2017-18 (July-June) to 76.5mn metric tons in 2018-19.
Japan remained the largest importer of Australian LNG in 2017, importing 26.7mn metric tons, up by 18.1% the year prior, EnergyQuest said, adding that Australia is also Japan’s largest supplier of the fuel.