What happened to Australian gas prices in 2013?

While there is no doubt that Australian wholesale gas prices are increasing significantly, particularly on the east coast, most gas is still being sold under historic contracts at relatively low prices. Based on gas prices realised by major producers on east and west coasts we estimate that the average Australian 2013 wholesale gas price was $4.23/GJ, up 4.9% from $4.02/GJ in 2012. Because of the weakening of the AUD, average prices softened slightly in US$ terms from US$4.41/MMBtu in 2012 to US$4.34/MMBtu in 2013.