LNG facilities on Australia’s Curtis Island
Australia’s LNG flashpoint
Scapegoating foreign buyers will not solve country’s gas shortages
LNG exports have once again become a flashpoint in Australia’s national debate over gas shortages. This time, however, the focus is not on how much gas is leaving the country but on what happens to it after it does. Thinktank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) released a research note in May alleging that Japanese firms resold around half the Australian LNG they purchased in 2024 to third countries. The report cast this as opportunistic trading amid Japan’s sustained efforts to influence Australian policy and ensure uninterrupted export flows. The media quickly amplified the implication that Japan was gaming the system. Nevertheless, that reading—while politica
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
