Origin reveals toll of outage

Origin Energy has reported a 4 per cent decline in LNG exports during the three months ended December 31, as a result of a stranded vessel that halted operations and left three ships unable to be loaded.

The result reveals the toll of the days-long saga caused when the Hong Kong owned ship, Cesi Qingdao, which was due to travel to Wenzhou in China, lost power and had to remain connected to the mains at the Australia Pacific LNG facility on Curtis Island.

Only one vessel can be loaded at one time, with slots tightly co-ordinated to avoid periods when the port is empty.

The outage forced Origin, which is the upstream operator, to lower production from gas wells in Queensland and increase supplies to the domestic market, though it was insufficient to offset the lost output that would have otherwise gone to the LNG export terminal.

While quarterly production fell 4 per cent, Origin said halfyear production was 3 per cent higher compared with one year earlier, driven by an increased number of wells online and effective well optimisation activity.

Origin chief executive Frank Calabria praised the APLNG operations for restarting operations after the suspension of works when the LNG vessel failed.

“It was pleasing to see production rebound to a daily record by mid-December, following the turn down due to the LNG vessel that lost power at Curtis Island in late November,” said Mr Calabria.

Origin said quarterly revenue from its stake in APLNG was 1 per cent higher at $2.38bn. Half-year revenue was down 21 per cent as global gas prices retreated and amid lower domestic demand.

Origin said it received sixmonth revenue from its stake in the APLNG facility of $648m, down 17 per cent.

The APLNG facility is one of Origin’s most prized assets and an important element of why EIG Partners partnered with Brookfield in its failed near-$20bn bid for Australia’s largest electricity and gas retailer.