PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Revenues from liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales in Australia were down 52% in July, compared with the same period last year, new data from Energy advisory EnergyQuest has shown.
While Australian LNG shipments in July were steady at 5.8-million tonnes, compared with the 5.9-million tonnes shipped in June, the lower oil prices were having a significant effect on revenues.
Average LNG import prices fell to $6.30/one-million British thermal units (MMBtu) for China in June from $8.58/MMBtu a year earlier, while average Australian LNG prices fell from $8.19/MMBtu for China in June 2019 to $6.80/MMBtu in June 2020.
The average price of Australian cargoes landed in Korea has risen, from $9.21/MMBtu to $9.54/MMBtu, but volumes have fallen significantly from 0.40-million tonnes in June 2019 to 0.24-million tonnes in June 2020.
In addition to the falling oil prices, the pandemic has also resulted in extended maintenance of LNG facilities and continued cargo deferrals, EnergyQuest noted, with the company estimating that around 21 Australian cargoes loaded during July were anchored offshore or are steaming slowly awaiting final destination orders, after 33 cargoes were delayed in June, and 41 were delayed in May.
Deliveries to major North Asian markets were lower compared with July 2019, with Australian projects delivering a total of 77 cargoes to China, Japan and Korea in July, down from 90 cargoes a year earlier. There were 10 fewer deliveries to China, one fewer delivery to Korea and two fewer deliveries to Japan.