The Australia Pacific LNG project logged lower revenue during the quarter ending March 31 compared to the same quarter last year, according to shareholder Origin Energy.
Origin, whose shareholders in December rejected a takeover offer from a consortium consisting of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and a unit of US-based energy investor EIG, said in its quarterly report that APLNG revenue reached about A$2.55 billion ($1.66 billion) in the January-March period.
Compared to the March quarter of 2023, APLNG revenue decreased 8 percent, while it rose 7 percent compared to the prior quarter.
Origin said that APLNG revenue rose compared to previous quarter due to higher LNG sales volumes and higher realized average LNG prices.
During the period from July 2023 to March 2024, APLNG revenue dropped 16 percent to A$7.27 billion primarily driven by lower realized export oil linked prices, partially offset by higher LNG volumes, Origin said.
The company’s share of APLNG revenue for the January-March quarter was A$633 million, compared with A$591 million in the prior quarter and A$710 million in the March quarter last year.
The company owns a 22.5 percent in the project and is the upstream operator, while China’s Sinopec owns a 25 percent share in APLNG.
US energy giant ConocoPhillips has a 47.5 percent share in the APLNG project and operates the 9 mtpa LNG export facility on Curtis Island near Gladstone.
APLNG recently shipped its 1000th LNG cargo since it started operations in 2016, and it also appointed Dan Clark as its chief executive officer.
34 LNG cargoes
Origin said that APLNG sold 34 LNG cargoes during January-March, up from 33 cargoes in the same quarter in 2023 and a rise compared to 32 cargoes in the prior quarter.
During the period from July 2023 to March 2024, APLNG sold 97 cargoes, two more cargoes compared to the same period before.
APLNG’s March quarter realized average LNG price was $12.17/MMBtu, compared to 14.50/MMBtu in the same quarter last year and 11.88/MMBtu in the prior quarter, while average domestic price was A$6.90/GJ.
Production of 176.2 PJ rose 5 percent when compared to the previous quarter and it rose 7 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Origin said production rose compared to December quarter due to unplanned commercial turndown after an LNG vessel lost power at the Curtis Island facility in late November.
Origin CEO Frank Calabria said that APLNG “is performing well operationally, continues to be a major supplier to the domestic market, and recently marked the milestone of its one thousandth LNG cargo.”