Oz Ships First LNG Cargo to Chile

Australia's first shipment of LNG to Chile last month shows how over-supplied the Asian gas market is, energy consultancy EnergyQuest said in a report published on August 19.  

The cargo was from the Shell-operated QCLNG project at Gladstone in Queensland. It was transported aboard the carrier Sevilla Knutsen. The tanker docked at Quintero, Chile on August 15 after a 24-day voyage, EnergyQuest said. QCLNG cargoes generally go to China and Japan.

The export of LNG to Chile was revealed earlier this month by Gladstone Ports Corporation which said that Australia had exported 72,047 metric tons of LNG to Chile last month. It did not provide any further details.  

Quintero mostly imports LNG cargoes from the Atlantic Basin. In 2019, it imported cargoes from the US, Trinidad & Tobago and Equatorial Guinea so a cargo from Australia shows the degree of over-supply in Asia, EnergyQuest said.

Historically, Chile imported its gas from Argentina but it decided to build an LNG import terminal after interruptions to Argentinian supply in 2004-5. BG (now Shell) wrote a portfolio contract with GNL Quintero in 2006 to supply 3mn metric tons/year from 2009 to 2030. Shell has offtake agreements with all three Atlantic Basin producers.