The momentum for LNG imports in south-eastern Australia is accelerating amidst closures of coal-fired power stations and warnings of a possible gas shortage in Victoria as soon as 2023. The most advanced project is Andrew Forrest’s Port Kembla Gas Terminal, which has environmental approvals in place, the site leased and major works due to start […]
Fall in February LNG shipments: EnergyQu...
EnergyQuest has just released its Australian LNG Monthly for February 2021. Some of the highlights are: Australian LNG shipments in February 2021 were lower compared with January, primarily due to reduced production at the NWS and Ichthys projects, and the shorter month. Australian projects shipped 6.0 million tonnes (Mt) (88 cargoes) in February, compared with […]
EnergyQuarterly March 2021 A Wild Ride i...
The March 2021 EnergyQuarterly report has just been released, with comprehensive Australian energy data for the December Quarter 2020 and the 2020 calendar year plus analysis of the latest developments. It has been a wild ride in energy markets over the last year. Oil prices crashed and then soared back to where they started. A […]
Australia the odd country out on oil ref...
Following the announcement of the forthcoming closure of ExxonMobil’s Altona refinery, we have been digging out the numbers on where Australia stands internationally in oil consumption versus refining capacity. Australia isn’t a small oil consumer. According to the BP energy statistics, Australia ranked number 16 in the world consuming 1,046 thousand barrels per day (kbbl/d) […]
Australian 2020 LNG export revenue down ...
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the merchandise trade statistics for December, giving a final total for the 2020 year. The total value of 2020 LNG exports was A$36.2 billion, down 25.5% from the 2019 record of A$48.6 billion. We have been asked what impact lower prices would have had on taxes […]
APLNG Q4 2020 domestic gas prices 34% be...
Further to our post earlier this week, there has been further evidence today that domestic gas prices are significantly lower than LNG prices. Origin Energy’s quarterly ASX report for the December quarter 2020 discloses that average revenue realised from LNG sales by the APLNG project at Gladstone in Queensland was US$5.20/MMBtu. That is A$6.71/GJ. APLNG’s […]
FACT CHECK: Australians still pay less f...
Notwithstanding extensive evidence to the contrary, gas buyers still claim that Australians pay more for gas than do the overseas buyers of our LNG. This remains false. EnergyQuest tracks the landed price of Australian LNG in our four major markets, Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. These are landed prices, prior to the cost of regasification, […]
The three C’s of 2020: Covid, China and
EnergyQuest CEO Graeme Bethune looks back at 2020 As 2020 draws to a close it is time to reflect on the passing year. There are three themes that stand out to us from 2020. First, and obviously, the impact of the pandemic on individuals, countries and energy markets. In Australia the major impact on energy demand has […]
Domestic Gas Market Interventions, Inter...
In 2013 EnergyQuest completed an independent report for the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) on domestic gas policy in 20 countries. The report was updated in November 2020. International experience is that government interventions to reduce domestic wholesale gas prices are often unsustainable, and have numerous negative side-effects in terms of economic, energy […]
Aussie motorists shun biofuels
As Australian motorists continue to shun the use of ethanol in their fuel, and combined with the impact of COVID on all petrol type sales, demand for biofuels declined in 2019-20. Pre-COVID, Australia’s little changed biofuel production is at odds with the growing overseas experience where biofuel production (more so biodiesel) continued to increase in […]