Editorial comment
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup took place in November, with Australia beating India by six wickets. This makes Australia the most successful nation in cricket (by a lot), having won the tournament a record six times; India and the West Indies are the only other two nations who have won the World Cup more than once.1
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Although Australia has recently been overtaken by the US and Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporters, it is still a major producer of LNG, and one that Asia is heavily reliant on. Roughly three-quarters of Australia’s LNG exports go to four Asian buyers (China, Japan, South Korea, and India), with almost none going to Europe.2
Australian LNG has been a hot topic for the industry’s news as of late, notably because of the worker strikes at Woodside Energy’s Northwest Shelf and Chevron’s Gorgon LNG and Wheatstone projects. Woodside managed to avert strikes after reaching a deal with workers in August,3 while workers at the Gorgon and Wheatstone facilities began striking in early September. In October 2023, Reuters announced that Chevron Australia and employees at its two LNG plants had reached agreement, ending the strikes. A positive outcome considering these two projects alone account for approximately 7% of global LNG supply.4 In November, the third liquefaction train at the Gorgon LNG plant in Western Australia was reported to have returned to full production.5
In other news, GR Production Services Pty Ltd has been awarded a three-year contract with INPEX Operations Australia for the provision of operations and maintenance support services at the Ichthys LNG upstream and downstream facilities. The project, a joint venture between INPEX group companies, major partner TotalEnergies, and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, JERA, and Toho Gas, is expected to produce up to 9.3 million tpy of LNG and is one of the few energy projects to incorporate the whole chain of development and production.6
In addition, the Santos-operated Darwin LNG and KAEFER Integrated Services have recently announced the establishment of a new pathway to skilled, well-paying, secure jobs for Aboriginal Territorians through a training and employment programme commencing in Darwin in early 2024. The companies intend to provide ongoing employment for participants in the programme at their worksites; construction of Darwin LNG began 20 years ago and the facility is now being readied for the next 20 years, in preparation for the start of Barossa gas production in 2025.7
Our project overview (p.35) looks at some LNG project expansions currently under construction from around the world, including the Outer Harbor LNG import terminal and Pluto LNG project in Australia, as well as various others from Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe.
As 2023 comes to an end, and we start looking forward to the New Year, LNG Industry thanks all our readers for their support throughout the year. We wish you all a happy holiday season, and we look forward to continuing to provide you with current and informative LNG market news and developments as we move into 2024.
