Origin Ups Oz APLNG Output Guidance

Australian gas and power retailer, Origin Energy, November 26 raised the production guidance for its integrated gas segment for the 12 months ending June 30 2021, to reflect stronger-than-expected Asian demand outlook.

The production from Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) is expected to be in the range of 675-705 petajoules versus prior guidance of 650-680 petajoules. Origin forecasts a distribution breakeven point of US$25-29/boe, against previous guidance of US$27-31/boe.

The company increased its production guidance on account of a robust outlook for gas demand, driven by global LNG supply outages, increased northern hemisphere winter demand, a Chinese demand recovery post Covid-19, and higher demand from Korea due to nuclear generation outages. “We currently expect strong demand into long-term contracts for calendar year 2021,” Origin said.

APLNG (a joint venture comprising Origin, ConocoPhillips and 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. Origin owns a 37.5% stake in APLNG.