ADNOC’s Australia avoidance
The Middle East NOC’s decision to exit Santos signals changing rules for Australian gas investors
ADNOC’s withdrawal from its bid for Santos has demonstrated how commercial weaknesses and political pressures are converging in Australia’s East Coast gas market. Santos’ GLNG project has repeatedly drawn more gas from the domestic market than it contributes over the years, making it the only Queensland LNG venture to run at a net deficit consistently. That record matters because Canberra—after a decade of warnings from the Australian Energy Market Operator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and industry analysts about tightening East Coast gas supply—is striving to demonstrate that it can guarantee reliable domestic supply. In that context, Santos faces tighter const
Also in this section
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
6 March 2026
After Europe’s rapid buildout of floating LNG import capacity, Exmar CEO Carl-Antoine Saverys says future growth in floating gas infrastructure will increasingly be driven by developing markets as lower prices, rising energy demand and the need to replace coal unlock new opportunities for unconventional and tailor-made solutions
