Sydney Morning Herald: Queensland LNG Production Ramp-up Called into Question

Weak commodity prices and worries over gas supplies have fuelled speculation that the Queensland LNG industry may ramp up output more slowly than scheduled and some market sources even suggest that one production unit may be mothballed.

Two of the six trains across the three projects in Gladstone, worth almost $80 billion in total, have yet to start up.

While the local partners in those two ventures, Santos and Origin Energy, say work is proceeding towards start-up later this year as planned, some market participants are not ruling out other possibilities.

"I would not be surprised that of the four trains [across the Origin and Santos projects], only three end up running in the early stages," one gas executive said, pointing to doubts around gas supply economics given the slump in liquefied natural gas and the need for some ventures to buy in gas. MORE