No plain sailing for Australian LNG

The country will shortly become the world's largest exporter

Since the nation's eight new liquefied natural gas export projects were sanctioned—most of which are now operational—oil prices have near halved and the dynamics of the market have changed significantly, rapidly and unpredictably. Australia's high-priced exporters face a raft of uncertainties. These have shaken the foundations of the project-financing and long-term, oil-indexed, bilateral-contract structure on which the large-scale projects were sanctioned. While views differ on the size and duration of a global LNG supply surplus, the availability of more varied supplies is spurring the entry of trading entities. At the same time, the development of trading hubs offers a more transparent an