This is hardly worth deconstructing.
Australia’s largest international LNG customer has warned that Labor’s gas reservation scheme will cut domestic gas supplies to Australia while risking an opportunity to grow the multibillion-dollar trade with Japan as the global energy crisis pushes the Asian country to lift imports.
…Australia supplies about 40 per cent of Japan’s LNG needs, involving trade that peaked at $34.5 billion in 2022-23 and is critical to the Asian nation’s energy security.
Tokyo Electric Power, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi and Mitsui are among the major Japanese firms with longstanding multibillion-dollar LNG interests in Western Australia and the Northern Territory in particular.
Let’s pause there. Japan buys bugger all gas from QLD, which is what reservation is all about.
Japan’s QLD volumes are usually around 1.5mt per annum. Maybe 2% of our national output.
WA is already exempt from national reservation. NT may also be exempt in the future. QLD is all that matters to national energy.
More.
Terazawa said Japan respected Australia’s efforts to ensure reliable and affordable gas for domestic consumers, but said the “win-win” option would be to expand production of gas to benefit both Australia and its Asian neighbours.
No problem. You want more? Come get it, but you’re not having the cheap stuff. Japan doesn’t even use it. It resells it.
In fact, Japan receives about 10x as much LNG as it takes from QLD.
This is not how one ally treats another.
I would wipe my arse with this AFR article this morning, but it’s likely to add, not withdraw, fecal matter.
