Overall, natural gas production is expected to increase by 10%, reflecting increased production from the John Brookes project, which started in September, and the start of production from the BassGas and Casino projects in early 2006, the ABARE report said.

Despite technical problems causing a production shutdown of the North West Shelf’s fourth LNG production train between late August and early October, total LNG export volumes are forecast to increase 26% to 13.4 million tonnes in the 2005/06 year, it said. The Darwin LNG project will come onstream next year.

ABARE also said that production of crude oil and condensate was forecast to increase by 6% to 26.9 gigalitres in the current financial year, due to higher production from several new projects offsetting declining productivity in mature fields. Overall, crude oil and condensate export volumes are forecast to increase by 12% to 17.7 million litres in 2005/06.

“Australian crude oil and condensate production has been declining since the early 2000s, mainly as a result of lower production from a number of mature fields” the report said.

“For example, production from the Gippsland Basin, which previously accounted for a significant proportion of total Australian production, has declined at an annual average rate of about 17% since 1999-2000.”

While production from the Carnarvon Basin is also declining, new production from the Mutineer/Exeter development has contributed to higher production from that field since mid-2005, it said.

ABARE added that the Basker and Manta development, which started production in mid-November, and Perth’s Cliff Head project, with first oil due in March, is expected to underpin Australia’s crude oil production for this financial year.