Page 11 - GLNG Week 40 2022
P. 11
GLNG AUSTAL ASIA GLNG
Australia drops plan to
restrict LNG exports
EXPORTS AUSTRALIA has abandoned plans to impose buyers do not pay more than customers overseas
restrictions on LNG exports after striking a deal would.
with its three East Coast producers of super- King said the deal would not affect supplies
cooled gas to avert a domestic supply crunch. to overseas customers or supplies under existing
The government said in August it was weigh- contracts.
ing up the restriction, sparking concerns among “I want to state, very firmly and clearly, that
LNG exporters and their predominantly Asian Australia will always be a trusted and reliable
buyers. This was after a competition watchdog trading partner and a safe place to invest,” she
warned that Australia’s East Coast gas market said at a televised conference.
was facing a 57 PJ shortfall in supply next year. Santos’ Gladstone LNG was viewed as par-
Under the agreement, announced on Sep- ticularly at risk as a result of the proposed restric-
tember 29 by Resources Minister Madeleine tion, as the terminal, whose other shareholders
King, the Shell-run Queensland Curtis LNG, include TotalEnergies, Korea’s KOGAS and
ConocoPhillips-operated Australia Pacific Malaysia’s Petronas, takes more gas out of the
LNG and Santos-led Gladstone LNG terminals domestic market than it puts in. Gladstone LNG
will offer an extra 157 PJ of gas to the domestic has agreed to ramp up supply to the domestic
market in 2023. market during the peak winter demand season
“Given the agreement means the projected in Australia, Santos said.
shortfall will be avoided, I am satisfied I do not “The [agreement] is a good outcome for San-
need to take steps to activate the Australian tos and very welcome, to remove sovereign risk
domestic gas security mechanism at this time,” and ensure long-term LNG supply contracts are
King said in a statement. honoured,” the company’s managing director,
The LNG exporters are required to offer Kevin Gallagher, said in a statement.
uncontracted gas to the domestic market before
international buyers, and ensure that domestic
Week 40 07•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
