Australian shale play faces rocky ride
The Northern Territory, a key LNG centre, holds huge reserves of shale gas. But will regulations stifle development?
On a low-lying peninsula just south of Australia's largest tropical city, Darwin, lie two liquefied natural gas export facilities, signifying the leading role the Northern Territory (NT) plays as a global LNG exporter. At Bladon Point, the Inpex-Total joint venture Ichthys LNG project is poised to go live this year, liquefying gas and condensate sourced from the Browse Basin brought onshore via an 890km (553-mile) pipeline. At Wickham Point, the ConocoPhillips-operated Darwin LNG facility processes gas from the Bayu Undan field in the Timor Sea, and is looking at expanding capacity to include supply from the Barossa-Caldita fields. But this isn't all that the NT has to offer. The region also
Also in this section
21 February 2025
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
20 February 2025
Greater social mobility means increased global demand for refined fuels and petrochemical products, with Asia leading the way in the expansion of refining capacity
19 February 2025
The EU would do well to ease its gas storage requirements to avoid heavy purchase costs this summer, with the targets having created market distortion while giving sellers a significant advantage over buyers
18 February 2025
Deliveries to China decline by around 1m b/d from move to curb crude exports to Shandong port, putting Iran under further economic pressure
