Australia became the world’s largest exporter of LNG, for the first time in November, as it surpassed Qatar. This comes after the beginning of several export projects in the country over the past three years, such as the Ichthys LNF project off Australia’s northern coast.
Qatar is not the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) anymore, as in November, data from Refinitiv Eikon showed that Australia took its place as the largest exporting country around the globe.
The increased export shipments were boosted in part by the start of production from the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG project, which saw its first LNG cargo depart Darwin on 22 October, followed by two further cargoes.
In November, Australia loaded 6.5 million tonnes of LNG for exports while Qatar exported over 6.2 million tonnes, the data showed, according to Reuters.
Australia is expected to further maintain this position as the final new project in the pipeline, Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude, comes online by next year, though Qatar will not stay idle, mentioned in the same report by a Sanford Bernstein analyst Neil Beveridge.
However, by 2024, Qatar plans to expand its LNG capacity to 110 million tons a year, up from its current annual production of 77 million. The expansion will be achieved by adding a fourth LNG production line.
Qatar, which also exports around 600,000 barrels per day of crude oil, announced its decision to leave OPEC on January 1, as an attempt to give emphasis on natural gas production.
Furthermore, Australia’s top position could be rather fragile as LNG exports are being blamed for the increase in domestic gas prices, which reasonably troubles the Australian government.
