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Jonathan Molapo, the company’s CEO, has said: “Even before the sharp contraction we’ve
pledged to investigate the incident at the plant, seen in gas prices this year, Australian gas
which left two dead and seven injured. users have enjoyed very competitive wholesale
The blaze broke out one day after the North prices. The widely repeated claim that Austral-
Gauteng High Court cancelled a controversial ia’s wholesale prices are higher than in the coun-
tender for fuel supplies to Pretoria. The court tries importing our LNG has once again [been]
issued this ruling after identifying irregularities shown to be without foundation.”
with the tender, which has given rise to allega- McConville said: “Interestingly, the statis-
tions of fraud and corruption. tics show countries with the highest gas prices
including Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan,
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Singapore and China – well above Australia – all
Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for have successful major manufacturing sectors.” The operators of
NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor. While acknowledging that Australia’s whole- storage facilities
sale prices were higher than in other major pro-
Asia-Pacific: Australian gas prices ducers such as the US, Canada, Russia and in the have enjoyed
Australia’s upstream industry lobby has used a Middle East, McConville the difference reflected
new International Gas Union (IGU) report to the “high cost of doing business in Australia, and record earnings
counter arguments that the country’s wholesale increasingly the impact of restrictions on the
natural gas prices are too high. development of natural resources.” during the crisis
Australia’s wholesale gas price averaged $5.58
per mmBtu in 2019, according to the IGU’s Whole- If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
sale Gas Price Survey 2020. The survey of 53 coun- Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
tries showed that Australia’s price was around 40% NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor.
less than the Asia-Pacific’s average wholesale price,
while it was just under 30% cheaper than the Asian Downstream: Storage in vogue
region’s average wholesale price. At the height of coronavirus (COVID-19) lock-
The IGU’s survey results showed that Taiwan, downs, oil and fuel storage was more in demand
South Korea and Japan paid the highest wholesale than it has been in decades. The operators of this
gas price at or more than $10 per mmBtu, while storage therefore enjoyed record earnings during
China paid the sixth highest price. the crisis.
Australia ranked 18th overall in terms of Brooge Energy, which manages capacity at
prices, with the lowest to be found in countries the UAE’s Fujairah hub, was already achieving
with highly regulated markets where produc- strong results before COVID-19. The company
ers sold gas below the cost of production and said last week it had earned $44mn in revenues
transportation. in 2019, up 23% year on year. It has both its Phase
The Australian Petroleum Production and 1 and Phase 2 facilities fully booked, the latter
Exploration Association (APPEA) has seized group due to start coming into operation in the
on the report. It says the report puts to bed the second half of this year, meaning it can look for-
frequently repeated claims that Australia paid ward to a further surge in turnover.
more for gas than those countries that bought its Brooge aims to have eight new oil storage
liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. tanks with a combined capacity of 3.8mn barrels
APPEA chief executive Andrew McConville up and running by the end of the year.

Week 27 09•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7