A report by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned of a potential gas supply gaps on the country’s east coast this winter unless the LNG exporters in Gladstone divert shipments from export to domestic customers.
The report estimated a supply “gap” of up to 33 petajoules assuming three Queensland LGN ventures exported all their uncontracted gas this year. However, Santos’ GLNG joint venture has spoken out against the forecast, saying that all three Queensland LNG ventures have committed to making all the domestic gas expected to be needed this year available. GLNG said it had already sold more than 15 petajoules of gas to wholesalers, retailers and power generators between May and September to alleviate critical peak winter demand in east coast gas and electricity markets.
Additionally, the other two Queensland LGN ventures had offered more than 20 petajoules of domestic gas for sale, and there had been no spot LNG export from Gladstone in 2023, the company said. Despite this, on April 1st, the Federal Resources Minister is due to decide whether to curb LGN exports from Gladstone on a quarterly basis if required to avoid shortfalls in the domestic market.
Industry gas executives are currently arguing for some relaxation of the rules to allow new projects to go ahead to meet demand and remove barriers to new gas supply investment on the east coast.
This is a summary article from Edge2020 – read the original article here: https://edge2020.com.au/edge-news/dispute-over-forecasted-supply-gap-in-east-coast-gas-market/
