Page 9 - GLNG Week 08 2022

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

company’s annual sales revenue was up 39% its guidance for the full fiscal year, which runs
to $4.7bn in 2021, while in the final quarter of July 1-June 30 in Australia, was maintained at
the year it rose 34% to $1.5bn. Its free cash flow 21-23mn boe.
for the year, also coming in at $1.5bn, was more
than double the amount in 2020. What next?
Additionally, Santos’ average realised LNG Earnings announcements, especially from the
price rose 32% in the fourth quarter to $13.64 larger players such as Woodside and Santos,
per million British thermal units ($377.28 per indicate an active year ahead for Australian pro-
1,000 cubic metres). ducers. The companies will continue to develop
The company flagged up its LNG operations their recently sanctioned oil and gas projects,
as being among the highlights of its perfor- and also have others in the works. For example,
mance, noting that Gladstone LNG (GLNG) Santos said that it was targeting FID on Dorado
had achieved record sales of 6.4mn tonnes Phase 1 in mid-2022 and Pikka Phase 1 in the
in 2021. Meanwhile, higher output at the first half of 2022.
Bayu-Undan field enabled the Darwin LNG Additionally, these producers are increasingly Smaller
plant to produce 3.2mn tonnes last year, with devoting more resources to the energy transi-
Santos saying that almost all of these volumes tion. Santos also sanctioned its Moomba car- Australian players
were sold at Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) spot bon capture and storage (CCS) project last year, have also been
prices. and announced earlier in February that it had
Like Woodside, Santos made some major secured a network of depleted gas reservoirs in posting profits
moves in 2021, completing its merger with Oil South Australia that it intends to use for carbon
Search in December, which added 1.7mn boe dioxide (CO2) storage. (See AsianOil Week 06) as current oil
per year of production to its portfolio. It also Woodside, meanwhile, is studying large-
announced an FID on its Barossa gas project, scale CCS and solar opportunities in Western and gas market
which will be used to backfill Darwin LNG, in Australia, while also making a foray into clean conditions help
March. That project is now 20% complete and hydrogen development.
progressing on schedule, Santos said this week. Smaller companies are likely to be driven by to improve their
Smaller Australian players have also been similar trends, with improved profits making
posting profits as current oil and gas market it easier to ramp up production, while grow- performance.
conditions help to improve their performance. ing pressure to decarbonise means this will be
Among these were Beach Energy, which increasingly prioritised. Meanwhile, higher oil
reported a 66% y/y increase in net profits for the prices than previously expected increasingly
second half of 2021. The company’s profit rose look like a possibility, and it will be interesting
to AUD213mn ($153mn) and its sales revenue to see how Australia’s producers respond to this
of AUD786mn ($564mn) was up by 11% y/y. while continuing to pursue their energy transi-
However, Beach’s production fell 20% y/y but tion commitments.™

Week 08 25•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9