Australian LNG player inks two domestic gas supply deals

Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) has signed supply agreements with two compatriot firms, petroleum company Ampol Refineries and energy retailer, generator, investor, and developer Alinta Energy.

The company says it continues to offer and supply gas to the domestic market as part of its obligations under the Gas Market Code. This is the Australian government’s mandatory industry code, which is meant to ensure an adequate supply of wholesale gas to the domestic market at reasonable prices and on reasonable terms.

APLNG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dan Clark said: “These new supply agreements with Ampol and Alinta demonstrate Australia Pacific LNG’s ongoing commitment to supporting Australian businesses.

“The gas will be supplied later this year and fulfill part of Australia Pacific LNG’s commitments under the Mandatory Gas Code. Together, this brings Australia Pacific LNG’s committed volumes to the East Coast Market to 128PJ for the 2025 calendar year to date.” 

The firm claims to be a significant contributor to Australia’s east coast market, supplying approximately 30% of the domestic market year-on-year. In 2024, it delivered over 150 petajoules (PJ), which it says covers around 85% of Victoria’s annual gas demand.

APLNG is a joint venture (JV) between ConocoPhillips Australia (47.5%), Origin Energy (27.5%), and Sinopec (25%). The JV runs the Australia Pacific LNG project, which entails the development of coal seam gas resources in the Surat and Bowen basins, a 530-kilometer transmission pipeline, and an LNG facility on Curtis Island, near Gladstone.

Origin is in charge of the operation of the Australia Pacific LNG gas fields and main gas transmission pipeline, and ConocoPhillips is responsible for the construction and operation of the LNG facility.

The LNG facility, located on the southwest side of Curtis Island, incorporates two trains, each with the capacity to produce 4.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG, two 160,000-cubic-meter LNG storage tanks, a loading jetty for the LNG ships, and a control centre.

The facility shipped its first LNG cargo in January 2016 after nearly five years of development and construction. Following the 500th cargo celebration in 2020, the company’s 1000th cargo milestone was marked on April 17, 2024, departing on the Cesi Gladstone vessel, headed to China.

According to a recent report by the Western Australian Parliament’s Economics and Industry Standing Committee, Australia’s east coast, where the facility is located, has experienced price and supply issues in the past, as well as shortfalls of domestic gas. On the other hand, Western Australia largely managed to avoid this.