Australian LNG exports dropped in April when compared to the prior month but also year-on-year, according to EnergyQuest.
In April, Australian projects shipped 6.38 million tonnes or 92 cargoes. This compares to 6.41 million tonnes or 94 cargoes in March and 6.9 million tonnes or 99 cargoes in April 2021.
April was slightly shorter month then March, and this resulted in the minor drop in LNG exports, EnergyQuest said.
Compared with March, Australian projects delivered three additional cargoes to China in March, but 15 fewer cargoes to Korea and Japan.
The consultancy said that Australian LNG plants did not ship cargoes to Europe in April.
West Coast shipments decreased to 4.3 Mt or 61 cargoes in April, compared to 66 in March. West coast projects operated at 84 percent of nameplate capacity during April.
In addition, East coast shipments increased to 2.1 Mt in April with 31 cargoes compared to 28 in March, and 31 cargoes of 2.1 Mt a year ago. The east coast projects operated at 96 percent of nameplate capacity during April, EnergyQuest said.
Notwithstanding high LNG spot prices there were only two spot cargoes reported for shipping from Australian projects in April, one spot cargo from the east coast and one spot cargo from the west coast, it said. There were three spot cargoes in March.
The consultancy estimates that Australian LNG export revenue decreased slightly in April to $5.52 billion from $6.02 billion in March but up by 95 percent on April 2021.