Japanese energy companies are earning at least $1 billion by on-selling Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to other nations amid domestic shortages, new research says.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report released today comes as Western Australia and eastern states face future shortfalls.
Australia was the largest source of LNG on-sold by Japan, representing 41 per cent of shipments sold to third countries last year, followed by the US.
In eastern and Western Australia, Japanese resales volumes are larger than the projected annual gas shortfalls projected in future years.
IEEFA Australia’s chief executive, Amandine Denis-Ryan, says the situation should be ringing alarm bells within the federal government.
“It is quite extraordinary that Australia is now facing gas shortfalls on both sides of the country, even considering importing LNG, while Japan resells enormous volumes of our gas overseas for a profit,” she said.
The IEEFA scrutinised contracts and shipping data to highlight how much Australian LNG was being resold through Japan.
It estimated last year at least 600 petajoules (PJ) was resold via Japan, compared with the 511PJ consumed by eastern Australian states.
Another finding was Japanese resales of LNG from eastern and Western Australia are larger than the projected annual gas shortfalls in those regions in the coming years.
The research also found more than two-thirds of the resold LNG ends up in Taiwan and South Korea, which are high-value markets for Australian gas producers.
Citing energy security concerns, Japan has opposed any moves by Australia to rein in LNG exports.
