The Australia Pacific LNG project logged higher revenue during the quarter ending June 30 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$2.60 billion ($1.69 billion) in the April-June period.
Compared to the June quarter of 2023, APLNG revenue increased 5 percent, while it rose 2 percent compared to the prior quarter.
Origin said that APLNG revenue rose primarily due to higher volumes.
Compared to the prior quarter, the project’s LNG revenue dropped 7 percent to about A$2.15 due to lower LNG sales volumes and lower realized average LNG prices, while domestic revenue rose 83 percent primarily driven by higher seasonal short-term demand and commodity linked prices, it said.
During the fiscal year from July 2023 to July 2024, APLNG revenue dropped 12 percent to A$9.88 billion.
The project’s LNG revenue decreased 13 percent to A$8.6 billion primarily due to lower realized export prices, partially offset by higher LNG volumes, Origin said.
The company’s share of APLNG revenue for the April-June quarter was A$590 million, down compared with A$633 million in the prior quarter and A$611 million in the June quarter last year.
Origin 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.
Earlier this year, APLNG shipped its 1000th LNG cargo since it started operations in 2016, and it also appointed Dan Clark as its chief executive officer.
33 LNG cargoes
Origin said that APLNG sold 33 LNG cargoes during April-June, flat compared to the same quarter in 2023 and down by one cargo compared to 34 cargoes in the prior quarter.
During the fiscal year from July 2023 to July 2024, APLNG sold 130 cargoes, two more cargoes compared to the same period before.
The project delivered 15 spot LNG cargoes during the fiscal year, eight cargoes more compared to seven cargoes in the previous year.
APLNG’s June quarter realized average LNG price was $11.70/MMBtu, compared to 12.24/MMBtu in the same quarter last year and 12.17/MMBtu in the prior quarter, while average domestic price was A$9.30/GJ.
Production of 175.2 PJ dropped 1 percent when compared to the previous quarter and it was almost flat compared to the same quarter last year.
Production for the fiscal year was 693.7 PJ, 3 percent higher compared with FY23, driven by ongoing effective well and field optimization activity, partially offset by the unplanned production turndown from the LNG vessel power outage last November, Origin said.
Origin CEO Frank Calabria said that APLNG “continued to perform strongly, and delivered an uplift in production for the financial year, which supported higher sales volumes.”
“Strong field performance also supported Australia Pacific LNG to deliver more gas to the domestic market over the last quarter to help meet higher seasonal short-term demand,” he said.