Australia’s liquefied natural gas revenue was up almost 90 per cent after shipping 81.4 million tonnes in 2022, an EnergyQuest preliminary report has found.
The Adelaide-based advisory firm estimated the nation exported 81.4mt of LNG last year, up from 81.1mt in 2021.
LNG export revenue was up 86 per cent to $92.8 billion in 2022, due to higher oil and LNG prices.
Western Australia and the Northern Territory accounted for 71 per cent of LNG exports in 2022, up 2.1 per cent from the previous year.
The export estimates were based off vessel tracking data compiled by EnergyQuest.
EnergyQuest chief executive Graeme Bethune said Australia continued to be one of the world's largest LNG exporters.
“The record for the world’s biggest LNG exporter in 2022 appears to have been a photo finish between Australia, Qatar and the US,” he said.
“Bloomberg estimates that the latter two counties each exported 81.2 million tonnes in 2022.”
Mr Bethune said exports in Qatar and the US were likely to grow while Australia’s would fall.
“Australian exports are likely to fall in 2023 while exports continue to grow from Qatar and the US,” he said.
“Following the depletion of reserves from the Bayu-Undan gas field, the Santos-operated Darwin LNG project will be out of action until the Barossa field comes online, hopefully in 2025.
“Darwin shipped 1.3 million tonnes in 2022. First cargoes from the Woodside-operated Scarborough LNG project are not due until 2026.”
Australia’s largest export market was Japan with 39 per cent of shipments, followed by China with 28 per cent and South Korea with 15 per cent.
“Japan and [South] Korea have already publicly expressed concern about any cut to exports and Australia is currently trying to encourage China to allow increased imports of Australian coal,” Mr Bethune said.
