EnergyQuest has just released its Australian LNG Monthly for February 2021. Some of the highlights are:
- Australian LNG shipments in February 2021 were lower compared with January, primarily due to reduced production at the NWS and Ichthys projects, and the shorter month. Australian projects shipped 6.0 million tonnes (Mt) (88 cargoes) in February, compared with 6.7 Mt (97 cargoes) in January. The monthly record for shipments was 7.1 Mt in December 2019.
- Australia’s February shipments were 78.3 Mtpa on an annualised basis.
- East coast projects shipped 1.953 Mt (29 cargoes) in February, below 2.068 Mt in January. The east coast projects operated at 98% of nameplate capacity during February.
- Cargo delays increased during February. EnergyQuest estimates nine Australian cargoes have been delayed for more than three days awaiting final destination orders during February, after 2 cargoes were delayed in January and 9 in December.
- Deliveries to major North Asian markets were significantly lower in February compared with January. This reflects the fall in shipments in January due to disruptions at Gorgon, Wheatstone and Ichthys, and the shorter month. Australian projects delivered a total of 83 cargoes to China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan in February, well down from 94 cargoes a month earlier. There were seven fewer deliveries to China, one more to Taiwan, two more to Korea and seven less to Japan compared with January.
- As of 26 February, the Platts JKM LNG spot price for April was US$5.72/MMBtu with continued warmer temperatures in Asia.
- The Gladstone LNG producers had a production deficit in February, with total production from LNG producers 6.3 PJ less than total LNG exports. This is higher compared with January when the producers had a 2.8 PJ deficit. LNG producers had a surplus of 4.5 PJ in February 2020.
- Gas production from Moomba and offshore Victoria was down by 2.5 PJ including from storage compared with January but steady compared to a year ago.
- East coast electricity generation was down by 6% in February compared with a year earlier due to the ongoing cooler summer and COVID-19. With increased generation from Solar PV, operational (i.e. commercial) generation was down by 7.9%.
- Reflecting lower demand and higher renewable generation, generation from coal was down by 8% and from gas by 51% on a year earlier. East coast gas-use for generation was down, by 6.64 PJ (-53%) on a year earlier and 0.94 PJ lower compared with January, being replaced by solar and wind generation.
Information about the EnergyQuest Australian LNG Monthly is available by clicking here