Australian LNG export revenue in January was A$2.56bn (US$2bn), down 40% year/year owing to lower lagged oil price, energy consultancy EnergyQuest said on February 16. Export revenue was down 4% month/month.  

“The decrease in revenue is a result of the decreased lagged oil price seen in January. The lagged oil price peaked in December and has since fallen driving revenues down,” EnergyQuest said. 

Australia exported 6.7mn metric tons of LNG last month, compared with 6.5mn mt in December 2020. The monthly record for shipments was 7.1mn mt in December 2019.  

Australian projects delivered 36 cargoes to China in January, after delivering 38 in December and 40 in January 2020. Japan took in 43 cargoes last month, more than the 41 delivered in December but down on 45 delivered in January 2020. 

West coast shipments stood at 4.6mn mt in January, down from 5.1mn mt in January 2020 but up from 4.4mn mt in December 2020. East coast LNG shipments decreased to 2.1mn mt in January from 2.2mn mt in December 2020, but up from 1.9mn mt a year ago. 

EnergyQuest estimates Australia delivered a total of 78.7mn mt of LNG in 2020, up 2.2% yr/yr. Total revenue from LNG exports reached A$36.1bn, down from A$48.7bn in 2019.