Liquefied natural gas exports from Australia jumped 18.5 percent in June, according to a report by an Australian-based energy analyst, EnergyQuest.
Export volumes increased by 0.56 million tons in June compared to the previous month, reaching a total of 3.6 million tons, the report shows.
“The strong growth in June exports reflects a full month of production from the Woodside-operated North West Shelf, which underwent planned maintenance in May, together with particularly strong performance from Woodside’s Pluto project and Shell’s QCLNG project in Gladstone,” said EnergyQuest CEO Graeme Bethune .
Australia’s six LNG projects all reached high levels of production, above nameplate capacity, despite low oil and LNG prices, and further growth is expected in the coming months with second trains at the GLNG and APLNG coming into production. In addition to the Curtis Island LNG project, Chevron-operated Gorgon facility is expected to ramp-up.
Three Curtis Island LNG facilities exported 22 cargoes in June, reaching 1.4 million tons, while facilities in Western Australia shipped 27 cargoes totaling 1.8 million tons. Darwin LNG project in the Northern Territory exported 5 cargoes totaling 0.3 million tons.
Out of an estimated 44 cargoes delivered in the month of June, 22 reached Japan, 15 were shipped to China, two to South Korea and one to Taiwan. However, two Australian cargoes ended up in India and one in Egypt, EnergyQuest said.