Australia's own goal
While Australia enjoys an LNG export boom, it's also looking at imports as one way of meeting domestic demand
Australia is poised to oust Qatar from the top spot as the world's largest liquefied natural gas exporter. Yet the country's populous and gas-rich eastern region is facing soaring prices, tightening supply and potential caps on LNG sales. The cause is a mix of policy failures and market forces which have combined to create a perfect storm over eastern Australia's gas industry. This, in turn, threatens the economic viability of heavy industry, pushing up household power bills, risking blackouts and causing a political headache for the federal government. In response, plans are afoot to import LNG into Australia for the first time, or even to pipe gas from fields in Western Australia. Aside fr
Also in this section
2 April 2026
Alongside a rapid continued build-out of renewables, China’s latest five-year plan stresses the value of domestic hydrocarbon production for energy security and calls for increased Russian gas imports
2 April 2026
The government is taking important steps to revive domestic production, lift investment and benefit from the geopolitical crisis even if more needs to be done in the longer term
1 April 2026
Golden Pass’s startup offers QatarEnergy a timely boost but may also force a difficult choice between honouring disrupted contracts and capitalising on soaring spot LNG prices
1 April 2026
It is not a case of if or when, but the length and magnitude of economic damage from elevated oil prices
