Oz Becomes World's Biggest LNG Exporter: EnergyQuest

Australia has officially become the world’s largest exporter of LNG on an annualised basis, energy consultancy, EnergyQuest said in a report published January 6.

The country exported an estimated record 77.514mn metric tons of LNG in the 12-months to December 31, up by 11.4% on 2018. Australia edged out Qatar, which is expected to produce 75mn mt of LNG in 2019, EnergyQuest said.

The 2019 Australian LNG exports were more than twice those of the US, the world’s other fast-growing LNG producer. The US Energy Information Administration expects the US to have exported 34.3mn mt in 2019, EnergyQuest said.

The Australian contribution came from across all three now fully established LNG hubs at Karratha in Western Australia, Gladstone in central Queensland and Darwin in the Northern Territory, home of both the Ichthys and Darwin LNG projects.

Western Australian production was steady on 2018 and Queensland production was up by 8.2% to 22.4mn mt, with both APLNG and QCLNG operating at close to full capacity, EnergyQuest said.