Australia’s largest producers join the cutback bandwagon
Developers have begun delaying new gas projects in response to oil price pressures and further capex cuts may be necessary
Australian independents Woodside Petroleum and Santos have both announced major capex cuts and deferral of several multi-billion dollar LNG projects, following plunging industrywide oil prices. The downgrade may have been triggered by an escalating oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. But Asia’s spot LNG prices have also been in the doldrums for months—first due to unseasonably warm winter temperatures and then the Covid-19 demand shock, which triggered a Chinese shutdown in January. The combination of demand destruction and market oversupply has driven Brent down to a 20-year low, while the JKM futures prices on the CME are below $3/mn Btu for monthly contracts from May through t
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
