Australia's oil and gas companies are appealing to the Morrison government to take a cautious approach as it begins assessing plans for a domestic gas-reservation scheme, pointing to new research suggesting such interventions discourage investment and don't guarantee lower prices.
In a strategy to drive down the high cost of energy for manufacturers and stimulate economic activity, the government's gas-led recovery plan involves opening up new gas basins and underwriting pipelines to boost supply. The government is also considering a scheme to reserve an amount of future gas supplies for local consumption only.
Manufacturers have been expressing growing frustration over recent months that gas producers have not dropped their long-term contract prices in line with the sharp price falls on the spot market caused by the virus-driven crash in energy demand. Gas on long-term contracts is being offered at prices of $8-10 a gigajoule.
NickToscano1 NickToscano1 ColinPSmith tony_r_wood Too late. The conventional gas on the east coast is going. NSW government Matt_KeanMP is still allowing additional gas connections in new homes. Unbelievable to which extent the public is misinformed. What's the update to this 2017 study?
NickToscano1 Morrison so full of Gas Just another dinosaur
NickToscano1 You need to factor in the political return from the electorate's perception that gas prices would be higher without the intervention. It's all politics ...
NickToscano1 So the supposed centrepiece of our economic recovery - federal govt subsidising expansion of the gas sector - is not supported by... the gas sector. This is beyond satire. Other countries are already 6 months into massive clean energy packages and here we have nothing.