- The Australian government has warned of a liquefied natural gas shortfall.
- It has asked exporters to divert supplies to the domestic market – which could push prices even higher.
- Europe is currently experiencing a gas supply crisis, with regional prices doubling over the last two months.
Australia has warned of a liquefied natural gas crunch on its eastern coast and will tell exporters to keep their supplies at home to make up any potential shortfalls.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement on Monday that exporters must divert gas to the domestic market to prevent a 56 petajoule shortage by 2023.
"Our latest gas report finds that the outlook for the east coast gas market has significantly worsened," ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said. "To protect energy security on the east coast we are… strongly encouraging LNG exporters to immediately increase their supply into the market."
News of a potential slowdown in exports comes as European gas prices soar, contributing to an energy crisis on the continent.
Benchmark Dutch TTF natural gas futures rose 4% to just under 200 euros ($205) per megawatt hour on Monday – meaning they have surged 135% since the start of June.
Australia is one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas exporters and ships 7.2 million tons of the super-cooled fuel abroad each year, according to Bloomberg. Supply cuts could push key gas benchmarks even higher, analysts said.
Natural gas stocks rallied after the ACCC's announcement. Woodside Energy Group climbed 2.7% in Australian trading hours, while Origin Energy and Santos Ltd. rose 1.9% and 1.1% respectively.