LNG exports up 21% in FY19

Australia exported 75.1 million tonnes of LNG in the 2019 financial year, 21.2 per cent higher than the previous fiscal year prior, and is expected to become the largest LNG producer in the world this financial year.

The latest figures from EnergyQuest revealed Australia was the world’s second largest LNG exporter, behind Qatar’s nameplate capacity of 77mt, but it Australia’s production is set to pass Qatar this financial year with around 80mt forecasted.

EnergyQuest said the expected increase would be due to a full year of production from Inpex’s Ichthys project and Shell’s Prelude project, which came online in June.

It said most of the growth in production for the fiscal year occurred from projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, notably Inpex’s Ichthys project and Chevron’s Wheatstone project.

Japan continued to be the largest buyer of Australian LNG for the fiscal year, accounting for 41 per cent of exports.

However, China is now close behind, with 37 per cent of exports.

For the month of June, shipments from WA decreased to 4.3mt, from 4.6mt in May.

This was likely due to an unexpected maintenance shutdown at Woodside Petroleum's Pluto project and a week shutdown at Chevron's Gorgon at the start of June.

LNG is Australia’s third largest export by value behind iron ore and coal.