I think you are a good man, but you have been fed bad data.
Japan and Asian LNG in general is quite expensive. This data suggests historically it has been $10 USD, and is currently $20 USD per BTU.
The next chart shows Australian wholesale gas prices. Its typically $5 AUD per gigajoule (i believe gigajoule to MMBTU is simlar metric using google, but happy to be corrected). You could say we are ripping the japanese off - charging more than double on average.
Historically, this article suggests our gas prices are 30% below most of asia. However, we are more expensive than other gas producing nations such as the USA or Qatar for a number of reasons, including infrastructure.
Of course, noone is actually ripping anyone off. THere are many factors at play - some gas is sold at long term contracts (so you are insulated from price movements - i.e. you would have "lost" money on your contract during covid, but you are better off now given prices have spiked), e.g. i believe brickworks signed a long term contract at around $11 AUD per gigajoule. Some is sold at spot.
The gas/commodity markets are based on supply and demand, and LNG is very costly to transport. Hopefully, with this data, you can come to better conclusions rather than blindly believing the crazies like david pocock and the greens that claim "australians are being ripped off". But, given this data if you still want to believe what you want to believe, then thats fine. I cannot help you
Regards
NHC Price at posting:
$5.54 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)