APLNG: follow the owners and the money

Origin operates the upstream gas activities; ConocoPhillips operates the LNG facility. Origin's financial statements say operating, management and funding decisions require unanimous support from the foundation shareholders, which include Origin and ConocoPhillips. Ownership percentages alone therefore do not describe all decision rights. These records establish the immediate corporate interests, not the nationality of every ultimate investor. [APLNG tax report, PDF pages 3–4][tax]; [Origin FY2026, printed pages 43 and 106][origin26].

The Chinese shareholder's corporate group also buys LNG. APLNG reports related-party sales to a subsidiary of that parent, moving from a Singapore subsidiary to a Hong Kong subsidiary during FY2025. It also reports loans from Chinese state-owned commercial banks within a wider syndicated facility. Customer, owner and lender are separate relationships; the disclosed sales do not establish the final destination of every cargo. [APLNG, PDF page 7][tax].

Construction partly used US$8.5 billion of project-finance facilities executed in FY2012. Separately, US EXIM announced authorisation of a US$2.95 billion direct loan in May 2012, supporting US goods and services supplied to the project. That is foreign public lending to a business, not a grant or a payment into Australia's budget. [Origin FY2026, printed page 33][origin26]; [US EXIM announcement][exim].

The outstanding project-finance tranches at 30 June 2026, in US$ million, are:

Origin translates the net balance to A$4.428 billion. The commercial bank tranche was refinanced on 31 March 2026, moving amortisation into FY2031–FY2033. Its FY2026 cash statement records A$861 million of borrowing proceeds, with a similar amount of repayments associated with that refinancing. This explains why gross debt repayments cannot all be treated as a reduction funded by gas sales. The reports do not identify every current bank or ultimate noteholder. [Origin FY2026, printed pages 33 and 45][origin26].

These are reported sales and accounting results. Cash receipts differ because recognition and payment occur at different times. The sales volumes reconcile with production, purchased gas and the reported inventory/liquefaction adjustments. They do not support an inference that all produced gas was exported. [Origin FY2026, printed pages 44 and 106][origin26]; [FY2025 comparison, printed pages 38 and 103][origin25].

Amounts below are A$ million, for 100% of APLNG. Positive figures add cash; parentheses mean cash paid out. Capital purchases and lease payments are grouped from the original statement; every original line is retained in the machine-readable money trail.

The FY2026 bridge is 2,930 − 1,468 − 72 = 1,390. The A$146 million court proceeds have an offsetting liability because the judgment is under appeal. They are not gas sales or an established windfall available to distribute. [Origin FY2026, printed pages 45 and 108][origin26]. The FY2025 comparative rows match the earlier [FY2025 financial statement, printed page 105][origin25].

Origin specifically reports receiving A$911 million of FY2026 dividends, including A$335 million paid in July 2025 from cash generated in the preceding year. Its A$911 million receipt is part of APLNG's A$3.312 billion total, not an additional payment. The reviewed disclosures do not provide a complete recipient-by-recipient cash breakdown for the other shareholders. Applying their ownership percentages would be an estimate, not verified remittances to countries. [Origin FY2026, printed page 45][origin26].

For FY2025, APLNG's tax report records A$1.189 billion income tax paid to the ATO and A$728 million government royalties, a A$1.917 billion subtotal. Royalties are a separate public receipt from Commonwealth income tax. Other duties, rates and public support are not comprehensively quantified here. [APLNG, PDF pages 3 and 6][tax].

For FY2026, the earlier tax report shows preliminary cash income tax of A$1.410 billion and royalties of A$430 million. The later Origin financial statement reports A$1.414 billion cash income tax, a A$4 million difference. The available disclosures do not reconcile that difference. Use the later figure for the final cash statement; keep the preliminary royalties labelled. Combining those two editions to announce a final A$1.844 billion government total would conceal the unresolved comparison.

Do not add the separately disclosed royalties to the complete cash outflows above. Origin already reports royalties and tariffs within operating costs, and its complete cash statement reconciles. APLNG's government-only royalty figure and Origin's combined royalties/tariffs line have different boundaries. We have not produced a separate cash-payment allocation between all suppliers, workers, private royalty holders and government. [Origin FY2025, printed page 40][origin25]; [APLNG, PDF page 6][tax].

The FY2025 tax calculation explains why company tax is not a flat percentage of sales. In rounded A$ million, APLNG reports this bridge:

The exact final liability is A$1,322,109,159, matched to the ATO's entity record in the earlier project ledger. Cash paid during FY2025 instead included A$344 million relating to FY2024 and A$845 million of FY2025 instalments. A later balancing payment falls in another cash year. [APLNG, PDF pages 5–6][tax]; [ATO entity data][ato].

Accounting tax expense is a third measure. APLNG's tax report shows A$1.430 billion for FY2025, while Origin's translated APLNG summary shows A$1.424 billion; the reports use different AUD translation presentations, and the difference is not independently reconciled here. Neither replaces the liability or cash paid. The report's positive A$3 million FY2024 R&D adjustment increases displayed tax expense; it is not an established cash subsidy. [APLNG, PDF pages 4 and 8][tax]; [Origin FY2025, printed page 103][origin25].

The records now connect ownership, foreign public and commercial financing, domestic and LNG sales, public income tax, debt servicing and dividends. They also explain two easily misleading totals: a shareholder's dividend is already inside the company total, and refinancing receipts can accompany large repayments.

They still do not establish the project's net benefit to Australians. Attributable grants, shared public infrastructure, concessions and funded cleanup obligations remain unreconciled. The supplier/employee cash line does not isolate wages, Australian procurement or imports. Ultimate investor residency and community outcomes also remain unresolved. Unknown amounts are not zero.

The existing environmental evidence reports 10,607 hectares reinstated from a cumulative 15,114-hectare disturbance footprint at end-2024; reinstatement is not completed rehabilitation. Local procurement shares use different upstream/downstream definitions and cannot be combined without spending denominators. Those findings remain in the environment briefing and the prior evidence records. They prevent converting public receipts into an unsupported overall value verdict.

Verification: verify_aplng.py reproduces 80 selected source rows from three hashed originals, checks both cash reconciliations, matches the FY2025 comparative to its original report, and checks income, sales, debt and tax subtotals. Relevant financial tables were visually inspected. This verifies transcription and arithmetic, not every publisher claim or an independent audit. Original reports remain local research copies; the account links to their publishers.