The consultancy estimates that Australian LNG export revenue reached A$4.02 billion ($2.81 billion) last month.
EnergyQuest said this was down by A$0.44 billion (-10 percent) from A$4.46 billion in April.
The May result was also down by A$1.08 billion (-21 percent) from May 2025’s A$5.10 billion.
According to EnergyQuest, this was principally due to lower average prices as well as lower volumes, which were down by 0.73 Mt (-11 percent) as total exports during May 2025 were 6.41 Mt.
88 cargoes
Based on shipping data, EnergyQuest estimates that Australia exported 5.69 Mt of LNG in May 2026, totaling 88 cargoes.
This represented a decrease of 12.7 percent from April 2026, when exports totaled 6.51 Mt, for 94 cargoes, EnergyQuest said.
When annualized, May’s exports represent 67 Mtpa, equivalent to 78 percent of the total Australian nameplate capacity of 86 Mtpa.
Combined, the five Western Australia projects (NWS, Pluto, Gorgon, Prelude, and Wheatstone) shipped 48 cargoes totaling 3.34 Mt of LNG during May, one cargo for 0.14 Mt less than they exported during April when they shipped 49 cargoes for 3.47 Mt, EnergyQuest said.
The May result was also down by five cargoes compared to May 2025 when they shipped 53 cargoes for 3.72 Mt.
Ichthys LNG and the Darwin LNG projects shipped a total of 11 cargoes for 0.83 Mt during May – down from the 12 cargoes for 0.91 Mt they (Ichthys only) shipped during April and one cargo less than the 12 cargoes shipped for 0.88 Mt during May 2025, the consultancy said.
It is worth noting that Inpex recently reached an in-principle agreement with unions representing its workers at the Ichthys LNG facilities in Australia’s Northern Territory to end a dispute over pay and conditions.
The three Queensland projects shipped a total of 29 cargoes for 1.86 Mt, down by four cargoes for 0.27 Mt compared to shipping 33 cargoes for 2.13 Mt in April, but up by one cargo from 28 cargoes for 1.82 Mt in May 2025, EnergyQuest said.
