Media Release
6 December 2025
20 years of energy insight
This year EnergyQuest is proud to celebrate 20 years of providing independent, experienced advice on Australian energy.
We note in this EnergyQuarterly that there is a building momentum for expansion of gas supply and explore what impact that might have on global energy supply. Within Australia, a few ‘summer swallows’ of optimism have been noted for east coast gas supply. Supporting the optimism is an increase in national spend on exploration by 53%, which includes offshore Otway Basin activity, and a general increase in onshore.
Mr Wilkinson said that “The opportunities being presented from recent drilling and exploration must be captured if we want to slow the decline in Australia’s petroleum production, which reached its lowest level since early 2019”.
International energy prices trended down, with the notable exception of Henry Hub which was up 43.8% September quarter 2025 compared to the same quarter in 2024, with increasing US LNG exports and flat production growth having an impact.
Looking at renewable energy generation capacity, EnergyQuest reviewed actual and planned additions, and found that the rate of renewable power generation capacity additions must increase substantially if government targets are to be met. This is despite actual renewable generation hitting multiple records this quarter.
Mr Wilkinson noted that “While the rate of growth in renewable energy has been remarkable to date, it is not sufficient to meet government goals, and the easy opportunities have already been captured”.
The Beetaloo Sub-basin continues to attract interest, with companies consolidating and progressing active drilling programs.
Mr Wilkinson observed that “The Beetaloo Sub-basin is being proved up technically, but billions of dollars for enormous capital programs will be needed to realise the high-side potential”.
“A clear investment catalyst will be if a major energy company takes a substantial position”.
Key Statistics
National petroleum production decreased in Q3 2025 to its lowest level since Q1 2019, reflecting a six year low in LNG shipments, record low oil and liquids, and falls in conventional gas production on the east and west coasts. CSG was the only sector to perform well in Q3 2025, with production at near-record levels. Total petroleum production decreased by 16.8 MMboe (-6%) qoq to 252.8 MMboe.
Australian LNG shipments decreased for the third quarter in a row to their lowest quarterly level in more than four years. The national industry shipped 18.4 Mt in Q3 2025, down 1.2 Mt (- 6.2%) qoq. The decline was led by Ichthys, where INPEX shut down both trains at various times from August to November to address outages that first arose last year.
National oil production decreased to a record low of 5.1 MMbbl in Q3 2025 following the shut-down of Gippsland Basin Joint Venture oil projects, Van Gogh and Barrow Island over the past year. Production in Q3 2025 decreased by 35% from 7.9 MMbbl in Q3 2024. National oil output has almost halved over the past three years and is only one quarter of production a decade ago.
In Q3 2025, LNG export revenue decreased to $14.4 billion, down from $15.9 billion (-9.5%) in Q3 2024, reflecting lower average prices and shipments, with the latter down by 0.8 Mt qoq (-3.9%).
Attributions and Media Contact:
Rick Wilkinson
Chief Executive Officer
EnergyQuest
Mobile: +61 (0) 417 852 779
Information about the EnergyQuarterly is available by clicking here.