Factcheck: Yes, Ed Husic is right. Australia exports gas so cheaply that Japanese companies profit from on-selling our gas

The claim:

Last year Ed Husic MP said:

[for] four consecutive years … [Japan] have on-sold Australian gas while telling us we should not have a right to intervene. … profiting from that gas while we are struggling

The facts:

The claim is true. Japanese companies are on-selling a lot of Australian liquified natural gas (LNG) and making a lot of profit while doing it.

Research from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis(IEEFA) shows that in 2024:

• Japanese companies on-sold 600 to 800 petajoules of Australian LNG. This is more than the total gas demand of Eastern Australia.
• Japanese LNG resales from both Eastern and Western Australia are bigger than projected ‘gas shortages’ in future years.
• Japanese resales likely drive more than A$1 billion in profits for these companies.

Recently, Japanese oil and gas giant Inpex even admitted to on-selling Australian gas from the Northern Territory.

How has this happened?

Further research from IEEFA shows that Japanese domestic demand for gas has fallen dramatically, as restarted nuclear reactors and deployment of renewables have displaced gas-fired generation.

Instead, Japanese LNG buyers are now cultivating demand for gas in nearby markets such as South Korea and Taiwan and profiting while doing so. Indeed, the Japanese Government is actively encouraging LNG buyers to continue to buy large volumes of LNG and on-sell them.

The verdict: True. Australia exports gas so cheaply that Japanese companies profit from on-selling our gas.