Oz 2018 LNG Exports Up 23%

Australian LNG exports reached 69.5 million metric tons in 2018, up 23% from 56.5mn mt in 2017, advisory firm EnergyQuest said January 14.

The start-up of the Ichthys project during 2018 and continued good performance of Wheatstone, which started production from Train 2 during 2018, have made a major contribution to the growth in Australian exports, it said.  Shell-operated Prelude project also began production late December with the first cargoes expected in early 2019.

Australian east coast exports only grew by 0.3mn mt in 2018, EnenrgyQuest said. The east coast projects continue to perform below capacity, owing to the increasingly tight gas supply in the east coast market. The three east coast projects – ConocoPhillips-Origin Energy Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) terminal, Shell’s Queensland Curtis LNG and the Santos-led Gladstone LNG project – are all in Queensland.

West coast producers, however, continue to outperform, with North West Shelf (NWS) the largest. The Gorgon project has remained in second place having consistently high production rates during 2018, it said – which will be welcomed by the owners of the massively over-budget and late project.

EnergyQuest expects to see further increases in exports in 2019 as Prelude comes on line, and Ichthys and Wheatstone ramp-up to full capacity. Total Australian LNG shipments were steady in December at 6.6mn mt (98 cargoes), unchanged over November. Australia’s December shipments were 78mn mt/yr on an annualised basis.