LNG: Australia exported 71.5 Mt in 11 months
Australia, a leading LNG nation, exported 71.5 million tonnes, MT, of LNG in the first 11 months of 2020.
The EnergyQuest report obtained by The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com, stated that, “In the 11 months to the end of November Australia exported 71.5 Mt, 1.2 Mt up on the 70.3 Mt exported over the same period in 2019. EnergyQuest estimates Australia will export around 78 Mt for 2020, slightly higher than the 77.5 Mt exported in 2019, and more than Qatar nameplate capacity.
“East coast projects again shipped a record 2.126 Mt (32 cargoes) in November, eclipsing the record set in October of 2.050 Mt. The east coast projects operated at 102% of nameplate capacity during November. This is the first time in the history of the east coast production they have exceeded nameplate capacity.
“Cargo delays continued to subside during November. EnergyQuest estimates 16 Australian cargoes have been delayed for more than three days awaiting final destination orders during November (5 were loaded during October), after 19 October cargoes were delayed and 19 in September. Deliveries to major North Asian markets were higher in November compared with November 2019. Australian projects delivered a total of 91 cargoes to China, Japan, and Korea in November, up from 83 cargoes a year earlier.”
Continuing, the report, stated: “There were seven more deliveries to Korea, one more delivery to Japan and the same number of deliveries to China compared to November 2019.LNG spot cargo prices are continuing to increase with cargoes for January delivery reported at US$5.80-9.20/MMBtu (A$12.00/GJ), significantly higher than Queensland short term domestic gas prices in November which averaged A$5.88/GJ at Wallumbilla and A$6.26/GJ in Brisbane.
“As of 11 December, the Platts JKM for January was well up at US$11.23/MMBtu, a more than 26-month high on the back of a tighter shipping market, persistent supply disruptions, and expectations of cold weather in China and South Korea. Based on the ACCC’s methodology this would translate to a Wallumbilla netback price of A$12.53/GJ at a 0.75 exchange rate”
It added: “The Gladstone LNG producers had a production deficit in November, with total production from LNG producers 6.2 PJ less than total LNG exports. This is higher compared with October when the producers had a 0.3 PJ deficit”
