Australia boosts LNG output to feed China's growing appetite

Beijing's energy shift and US trade war provide an opening

A liquefied natural gas facility in northwest Australia operated by Woodside Petroleum, which is ramping production as the global supply glut comes to a close. (Photo courtesy of Woodside Petroleum)

FUMI MATSUMOTO and SHUNSUKE TABETA, Nikkei staff writers

October 26, 2018 05:02 JST

SYDNEY/BEIJING -- Australia's top two energy companies, Woodside Petroleum and Santos, are boosting production of liquefied natural gas to feed Chinese demand as the world's most populous country seeks cleaner sources of electricity and heat.

"Production at Wheatstone LNG continued ahead of plan, underpinning a 13.8% rise in output," Peter Coleman, CEO of Woodside, Australia's largest oil and gas producer, said in the company's July-September earnings report out last Thursday.