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Fiscal 2026 APLNG production forecast lower vs fiscal 2025
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Origin shares flat
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Origin's share of revenue from APLNG down in Q4
(Rewrites throughout, adds share moves in paragraph 6, analyst
comments in paragraphs 5 and 7, adds bullets)
By Adwitiya Srivastava and Rajasik Mukherjee
July 31 (Reuters) - Australia's Origin Energy ( OGFGF )
on Thursday forecast a dip in annual output from the Australia
Pacific LNG (APLNG) project, citing a decline in natural field,
while softer commodity prices impacted its share of quarterly
revenue from the project.
The country's no.2 power producer forecast total production
from the APLNG project in Queensland between 635 petajoules (PJ)
and 680 PJ in fiscal 2026, lower than the 682.1 PJ it produced
in 2025.
However, the midpoint of this range is higher than the
Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 654.61 PJ.
"For FY26, Origin expects Australia Pacific LNG production
to be lower compared to FY25, reflecting the impact of natural
field decline in some operated and non-operated fields," Origin
CEO Frank Calabria said in a statement.
The APLNG project, which began production in late 2015 and
is one of Origin's flagship sites, is a joint venture between
Origin, U.S. oil and gas firm ConocoPhillips ( COP ), and
China's state-owned Sinopec.
Origin holds a 27.5% stake in the project and operates the
project's gas fields.
"FY26 production guidance is soft... but the market doesn't
seem too concerned, judging by the relatively flat share price,"
said Adrian Atkins, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar.
Origin's shares were trading largely flat at A$11.675
apiece, as of 0506 GMT.
Analysts at Jefferies hiked their price target on Origin to
A$12.34 per share, and said they continue to view the company as
"well-positioned" to use its cash flow for additional renewable
investments. They also believe Origin can achieve the midpoint
of production for the next several years.
In the fourth quarter ending June 30, the APLNG project
produced 169.2 PJ, down 3% from last year. Origin's share of
production slipped marginally to 46.5 PJ, while commodity
revenue fell 7% to A$547 million ($353.64 million).
Origin's full-year share of production slipped 2% to 187.6
PJ, largely owing to unplanned outages and poor performance at
some of its central Queensland assets. Tepid demand from China,
Australia's largest trading partner also weighed.
($1 = 1.5468 Australian dollars)