The 9mn t/yr Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) joint venture will supply extra domestic gas this year under two new gas sales deals with energy retailers Shell and Australian utility Origin Energy.
The agreements totalling 11.2PJ (299mn m³) increase APLNG's gas supply to the domestic market to more than 150PJ for this year, APLNG said on 15 March.
APLNG said it had offered the market an extra 70PJ of supply for April-December, including the high-demand winter period, when increasing quantities of gas from Queensland state's coal-bed methane projects are piped south to cooler climate regions.
The gas supply deal follows an additional 300PJ in commitments from APLNG and Australian firm Senex Energy agreed last November to avoid future shortfalls this decade.
Australia's three east coast LNG projects are considered critical to supplying domestic volumes as traditional southern Australian-supplying fields in the Cooper and Gippsland basins deplete.
Upstream firm Origin holds a 27.5pc stake in APLNG, while downstream operator ConocoPhillips controls 47.5pc and China's state-controlled Sinopec – the project's main customer — is a 25pc partner.
