Woodside Energy: LNG market will be “finely balanced”

(Bloomberg) – Woodside Energy Group Ltd. sees a “finely balanced” market for liquified natural gas (LNG) in 2023 after a price rally that helped Australia’s biggest producer of the fuel post a record annual profit.

“Prices have softened a bit, but we do expect demand and supply will continue to be pretty finally balanced this year — so we’re pretty optimistic about 2023,” Woodside Chief Executive Officer Meg O’Neill said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “There really are a lot of uncertainties in the crystal ball.”

Natural gas benchmarks in Europe and Asia soared to unprecedented levels last year as European nations usually dependent on Russian fuel hunted for alternatives following the invasion of Ukraine. While Woodside and global oil and gas producers from Shell Plc to BP Plc benefited from the run-up, prices have weakened this year as Europe comes out of its peak winter demand period with relatively high inventories.

“We are in a period of significant uncertainty,” O’Neill said. “Something like unusual temperatures or faster-than-expected economic activity in China could push things back to that volatile situation again.”