Woodside brings North West Shelf LNG to Europe amid ‘urgent need for alternative sources’

Australian energy major Woodside Energy has shipped a liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia’s North West Shelf to Europe to contribute to the security of supplies.

The cargo of approximately 75,000 tonnes of LNG (100 million cubic metres of natural gas) was delivered on board the Woodside Rees Withers on 27 November 2022 to Uniper at the Gate Terminal located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam.

The LNG delivery follows the recently signed flexible long-term sale and purchase agreement (SPA) signed by Woodside and Uniper.

Woodside Executive Vice President Marketing & Trading Mark Abbotsford said the company was pleased to have concluded the trade at a time when Europe is in urgent need of alternative sources of gas to replace Russian pipeline supplies.

“Events over the course of 2022 have shown that the world cannot take reliable and affordable supplies of energy for granted, particularly as we strive to decarbonise. At such times it is more important than ever that buyers and sellers work together to respond flexibly to market dynamics.

“Our relationship with Uniper is an example of such cooperation. The delivery of a North West Shelf LNG cargo to Europe also highlights the role that Australian LNG can play in supporting global energy security“, he said.

Uniper’s Director LNG Andreas Gemballa added: “We continue to work on securing the much-needed gas supply into Europe from reliable sources like Australia and thus helping to strengthen the security of supply during the ongoing crisis triggered by the Russian war.

“In addition to bringing online floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) in Germany, we are contracting LNG from diversified sources into existing and new regasification capacity in Europe. Woodside as a reliable supplier is helping us to bring additional LNG to Europe.”