PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia exported an estimated 75.1-million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2018/19, generating revenues of A$50.5-billion, new research from EnergyQuest has shown.
The export volumes were an increase of 21.2% on the 61.7-million exported in the 2018 financial year, with the LNG industry now sitting as Australia’s third-largest export by value, after iron-ore and coal.
The majority of the production growth in the 2019 financial year occurred from projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, most notably the Ichthys project developed by Inpex, and the Wheatstone project, owned by US major Chevron.
LNG exports from Queensland increased slightly from 20.5-million tonnes to 21.8-million tonnes between the 2018 and 2019 financial years.
EnergyQuest this week reported that Australia also maintained its standing as the world’s second-largest LNG exporter in the 2019 financial year, behind Qatar, which produced 77-million tonnes a year.
By 2020, Australia is expected to surpass Qatar, with production estimated to reach around 80-million tonnes, boosted by a full year of production from the Ichthys and the Prelude floating LNG projects, which came on line in June.