{"id":601378,"date":"2026-04-12T04:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T04:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/601378\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T04:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T04:37:14","slug":"gas-export-terminals-near-full-capacity-amid-energy-security-pact-with-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/601378\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas export terminals near full capacity amid energy security pact with Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nick<\/p>\n

April 12, 2026 \u2014 1:38pm<\/p>\n

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Australia\u2019s massive gas-export terminals are running at near-total capacity, leaving little room to boost production and limiting the Albanese government\u2019s ability to offer additional shipments to Asian trading partners in return for priority access to their petrol, diesel and jet fuel supplies.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong struck an energy-security pact on Friday, under which Singapore all but guaranteed the continued flow of refined fuels to Australia, while Australia reaffirmed its commitment to the steady supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the city-state.<\/p>\n

\"ChiefChief executive of Singapore LNG Corporation Leong Wei Hung (left) with Anthony Albanese during a tour of the company on Jurong Island.Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n

The deal is part of a broader federal strategy to buffer Australia from the global energy crisis triggered by the war in the Middle East, which has disrupted the transit of oil, refined fuel and LNG across the globe.<\/p>\n

Australia, which imports about 80 per cent of its liquid fuel from Asian refineries<\/a>, is aiming to leverage its role as a reliable, top-tier LNG exporter to the region as it seeks to strike agreements with other Asian governments to ensure ongoing access to their increasingly scarce fuel shipments.<\/p>\n

However, industry data suggests Australia\u2019s ability to do much more than pledging<\/a> to honour existing gas-supply contracts will be constrained by the reality that the nation\u2019s biggest LNG projects \u2013 plants that super-chill natural gas down to a liquid so it can be loaded onto ships \u2013 are already running at almost full-tilt.<\/p>\n

Queensland\u2019s LNG production units, known as \u201ctrains\u201d, were running at a combined 94.6 per cent capacity, according to figures from Australian energy consultancy EnergyQuest, while Western Australia\u2019s were at 98 per cent.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Australia<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the LNG trains in Australia run at capacity \u2013 very few can actually swing,\u201d EnergyQuest chief executive Rick Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s closure of the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 a vital oil and LNG shipping route \u2013 and drone strikes on a Qatari gas hub have together knocked out up to 20 per cent of global LNG supply. Countries across Asia that rely on Qatari LNG to power their heaters and electric grids are desperate to find replacement cargoes to head off shortfalls and have been looking to Australia \u2013 the world\u2019s third-largest supplier of LNG, behind Qatar \u2013 to make up for the drop-off.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s ability to continue being a reliable LNG supplier is \u201chighly valued\u201d in the current market, Wilkinson said. He said giving assurances that contracts would be honoured may itself be enough to provide leverage in bilateral government talks to secure fuel from nations including Japan, Korea and China.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Australian<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking in Singapore, Albanese said more Australian production fields were being developed that could boost supplies to Asia \u201cover a period of time\u201d. But with little to no spare LNG volumes to add to the Asian spot market, Australia\u2019s capacity to alleviate the worsening regional gas crunch<\/a> is limited in the short term, experts said. Australian LNG producers could perhaps ramp up to deliver an extra \u201cthree or four cargoes\u201d in a market that often ships more than 90 cargoes a month, Wilkinson said.<\/p>\n

The WA-based LNG operations with flexibility to provide an additional cargo include Woodside Energy\u2019s jointly owned North West Shelf project, and Shell\u2019s floating Prelude facility, data shows. Of three Queensland LNG projects, the Santos-led GLNG venture has the most spare capacity to deliver additional volumes to Asia. However, it has not developed enough of its own gas reserves to turn into LNG, meaning it would need to buy gas that would otherwise be kept for Australian customers, which could increase domestic prices. Santos\u2019 Darwin LNG plant has ramp-up capacity but has been shut for maintenance until later this month.<\/p>\n

News last week that the US and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire sent oil markets falling, raising hopes it could be the \u201cbeginning of the end\u201d for Australia\u2019s painful run of energy, petrol and diesel price rises, which have topped $2.50 a litre for regular unleaded.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

The government and fuel industry have managed to diversify their supply chains and secure oil and fuel from other parts of the world, as far afield as Europe and North America. But unless Australia can successfully negotiate extra deliveries, an imminent supply crunch is still a risk, as Asia runs low on the crude oil needed to feed its refineries.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said fuel suppliers Ampol and Viva Energy agreed to a scheme to encourage them to buy all the fuel they could. Taxpayers would guarantee their losses if they bought more expensive cargoes ahead of price falls, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis arrangement will enable the companies to make a purchase that would have been non-commercial and to go out and buy that fuel for Australians,\u201d Bowen said.<\/p>\n

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"NickNick Toscano<\/a> is a business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 12, 2026 \u2014 1:38pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-601378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}