A deal with the devil that keeps Queensland poorer longer |
A deal with the devil that keeps Queensland poorer longer
June 1, 2026 — 5:00am
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Queenslanders can be proud of their LNG sector. The first tanker left Gladstone for Asia in January 2015, and within six years, Australia had catapulted into top spot as the world’s largest exporter of LNG.
To execute such complex engineering so successfully and so quickly is an underappreciated miracle of Australian industry.
And right now, things are looking pretty rosy for Australian gas. Global prices are high, demand is up, and buyers are looking for reliable sellers (like us).
But beyond the current glow, things look much grimmer for Queensland LNG long-term.
Even with the temporary loss of Qatari supply (because of the Iran war), the world is entering a gas glut. We’re about to be flooded with cheap gas coming out of the US that will depress prices again, probably for a decade.
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In a buyer’s market, the most expensive player will lose. Sadly, that’s us. Australia’s cost of production is about a third higher than that of the US, and nearly triple Qatar’s – our two biggest competitors.
And over the long term, our big customers are just going to buy less gas.
About 80 per cent of Australia’s LNG exports go to Japan, China, and South Korea, and all........