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
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
