The brickmaker has struck an 11-year gas supply deal with major energy producer Santos that will provide the gas to make around 500 million bricks annually.This newspaper reported the price was within the range cited by the competition watchdog as reasonable.
The deal means that LNG exporters will first offer uncontracted gas on competitive market terms to the domestic market before it is offered internationally.There has been upward pressure on prices – driven by international upheaval from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, domestic underinvestment in new gas supply, and increased reliance on gas during coal generation outages and as the back-up when renewable energy is unavailable.But the recent flow of GSAs shows the market is working.
The update showed that average gas prices paid to retailers have risen 95 per cent over the past 12 months, compared to an 11 per cent rise for producers. We are already seeing this broad impact play out in the real world, away from the spreadsheets and modelling.