Australian LNG export revenues hit new record

This record revenue was accompanied by record exports totalling 7.31Mt of the supercooled gas, up from 6.91Mt in May

High energy prices have put a damper on driving (though you wouldn’t think it with the crowds at Kalbarri – a popular Western Australian holiday spot about 6.5 hours’ drive from Perth), increased prices on our lettuce and other groceries, and generally put a frown on faces – unless you’re an executive with our LNG producers, that is, Stockhead news service reported.

In its ‘Australian LNG Monthly’ report for June 2022, EnergyQuest noted that the sector earned record revenues of $7.18bn in June, up from $6.38bn just a month before and a whopping 135% up from June 2021.

This record revenue was accompanied by record exports totalling 7.31Mt of the supercooled gas, up from 6.91Mt in May.

And in a clear show of West Australian strength, projects on this side of the continent exported 79 cargoes of LNG totalling a record 5.5Mt, up from 5Mt in May, while the East Coast stumbled with just 27 cargoes totalling 1.8Mt.

Part of that was due to utilisation with the WA projects operating at 107% of nameplate capacity while those in Gladstone, Queensland, managed a paltry 84%.

It certainly didn’t help that coal seam gas production operated by LNG exporters fell from 117.1 petajoules in May to 107.6PJ in June.

More broadly, the energy consultancy estimated that Australian LNG exports in the 12 months to 30 June 2022 hit a record of 82.6Mt, a good deal higher than the 77.3Mt exported in the previous financial year.

China also lost its position as the top destination for our gas with 25Mt exported in FY2022, down from 28.3Mt in FY2021.

Domestic gas and power
During June, Queensland exported 6.2PJ of gas to other states, which contrasts with the import of 1.6PJ of gas in May.

Domestic gas prices across the eastern states were also higher in June with an average of $36.85 per gigajoule ($28.68/GJ in May) at Wallumbilla and $37.93/GJ ($31.67/GJ) in Brisbane.

Sydney prices averaged $40.70/GJ ($29.87/GJ), Adelaide saw $39.88/GJ from $33.44/GJ in May while Victorians paid $38.82/GJ ($32.95/GJ).

Gas also saw its share of the energy market from 10.2% in FY2021 to 10.8% in FY2022 while coal’s share of energy generation fell from 63% to 56%.