STO, page-5

Extract AUST today on LNG
'LNG shortage to hit soon, says Woodside
Woodside Petroleum chief Peter Coleman has warned of further east coast gas price rises as a global LNG shortage hits markets in as little as two years — much sooner than forecasters were previously expecting. After visits to Asian buyers in recent months, Woodside has brought its February forecast of a global LNG supply gap forward from 2023 to 2021 as non-Chinese Asian demand gathers pace and new projects come on line more slowly than expected. “We showed on our chart it’s about 2021, but it could be as early as 2020, which is when I think you’ll start to see some stress coming into the market,” Mr Coleman said after an investor briefing in Sydney yesterday. “We’ve been quite fortunate (on the east coast) in the last couple of years because global LNG prices have been down, but today we are seeing market prices already well above last year.”

He said visits to Asian LNG buyers and understanding their needs for new LNG, as well as new supply not hitting the market as quickly as planned, had brought forward the shortfall forecast. Mr Coleman said he expected pressure on international prices to continue and that it would probably hit east coast markets, where contract prices have recently stabilised at $8 to $10 a gigajoule since rising in recent years from traditional levels of $3 to $4. “Lock in some prices now because it looks likely they are only going to get higher,” is his advice to east coast manufacturers........'