Page 4 - GLNG Week 01

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG
Australia becomes top LNG exporter for 2019
Australia edged out Qatar to become the world’s leading exporter of LNG in 2019, as its output of the super-chilled fuel grew
PERFORMANCE
WHAT:
Australia became the world’s top exporter of LNG in 2019, overtaking Qatar.
WHY:
The rise in exports has primarily been attributed to growth in output from the Ichthys LNG project.
WHAT NEXT:
Australia is still facing domestic shortages of natural gas.
AUSTRALIA has overtaken Qatar to become the largest LNG exporter in 2019. Austral- ian exports of locally produced LNG reached 77.5mn tonnes, slightly higher than the 75mn tonnes that Qatar is estimated to have sent over- seas, according to EnergyQuest, an Austral- ia-based consultancy.
Australia’s LNG came from three established LNG hubs – at Karratha in Western Australia, Gladstone in central Queensland and Darwin in the Northern Territory. The volume exported last year was a 11.4% increase on 2018 levels, which was attributed primarily to rising output from the Ichthys LNG project in the Northern Territory, which came online in 2018. LNG pro- duction also rose in Queensland, by 8.2% year on year to 22.4mn tonnes, with both the APLNG and QCLNG terminals operating close to full capacity. In Western Australia, output remained steady compared with 2018, but a new facility – the Royal Dutch Shell-operated Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) project – began shipping LNG in June 2019.
Despite output there remaining flat y/y, the largest individual contributors to Australian LNG exports were all projects located in West- ern Australia. Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf accounted for the biggest share, followed by Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone projects.
Combined, the projects in Western Australia comprise 57% of the country’s LNG exports.
Taking the lead
Australia’s rise to the top stop had been antici- pated for some time as the country’s LNG termi- nals ramped up output.
“On an annualised basis, we have previously achieved the global title in some individual months, but 2019 is the first time Australia has topped global LNG export performance on a sustained annual basis,” EnergyQuest’s CEO, Graeme Bethune, stated.
Qatar’s figures for 2019 have yet to be con- firmed but according to Bethune, Australian operational capacity has now reached 88mn tonnes per year (tpy), exceeding the Middle Eastern country’s 77mn tpy.
“The record Australian performance for last year is 2.5mn tonnes above the forecast of Qatar 2019 production of 75mn tonnes, contained in the December 2019 Australian Government Resources and Energy Quarterly,” Bethune said.
Australian LNG exports were also more than double the amount shipped from the US, which is now the world’s third-largest LNG producer and growing fast. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has projected that the US will have exported 34.3mn tonnes in 2019.
The growth in Australian LNG exports was attributed primarily to increased production from the Ichthys terminal.
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Week 01 09•January•2020