Origin Quarterly Revenue Jumps On-Year as APLNG Ramps Up

MELBOURNE, Australia--Origin Energy Ltd.'s (ORG.AU) first-quarter sales revenue jumped on a year earlier as production from the Australia Pacific LNG gas-export venture continued to ramp up, although it was steady quarter-on-quarter.

Revenue totaled 678.6 million Australian dollars (US$521.6 million) in the three months through September, up 58% on the same period last year but less than 1% higher than the prior quarter as higher prices for gas and liquefied natural gas was offset by a drop in LNG volumes.

Production for the quarter was 20% higher year-over-year at 89.1 petajoules equivalent--a measure of the volume of different petroleum products on the basis of the energy contained--though little changed on the quarter before, the integrated energy producer and retailer said Tuesday.

The almost A$25 billion APLNG project on Australia's east coast, which counts ConocoPhillips (COP) and China Petrochemical Corp. as partners, completed a 90-day test on its two production lines in late August that was followed by planned maintenance, Origin said.

A month ago, Origin reached an agreement to sell its conventional oil and gas assets for A$1.59 billion to Beach Energy Ltd. (BPT.AU), a move that will cut its debt burden and tighten its focus on exports of liquefied natural gas and operations as a energy retailer and electricity generator. The company built up billions of debt funding its stake in the APLNG.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2017 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)