[AnarchismIsCool]

It costs money to transport LNG abroad. Ships, terminal infrastructure maintenance, people, it's all overhead. Ultimately if people stop using natural gas domestically there will be a reduction in production because that overhead eats into the profits of the producers.

[ikr678]

All that export infra is paid for/backed by long term shipping contracts.

Finance for domestic infra is harder to get because no one wants to be locked into 20 year supply arrangements.

The Japanese were, and that's what paid for Gladstone, and that's why for a period, Australian ng was cheaper in Japan than on-shore.