Victoria’s ban on coal seam gas could cause issues with energy supplies since its existing gas fields are producing less, the federal resources minister says. |Exclusive by CroweDM and micksfoley
Victorians are being told of a challenge with energy supply due to the state’s permanent ban on exploring for coal seam gas, while the federal government also warns that a potential gas field in NSW may not be big enough to supply customers south of the border.to prevent a future energy crisis, but Victorians could not be guaranteed the gas would flow into Victoria if regulators approved the project.
King warned that Victoria could not expect to receive gas from the Narrabri project if the new field went ahead in northern NSW, where project developer Santos wants to extract coal seam gas from 2026 to supply Sydney and the rest of the state.In a sign of the strength of demand, Santos chief Kevin Gallagher said on June 2 the company could sell the Narrabri gas “two or three times over” because customers were “crying out” for supplies.
While the federal minister said she did not want an argument with her state Labor counterparts, she made a pointed reference to the Northern Territory as a jurisdiction that imposed a moratorium on coal seam gas but later eased the restrictions. While Victoria sources its gas from Bass Strait and the Cooper Basin, the two regions have been producing gas for decades and have not been augmented by any additional fields of similar size in the southern states.Santos intends to install an additional rig in the Cooper Basin in South Australia next year and Beach Energy is planning to extract more gas from Bass Strait, but these projects combined would not be big enough to meet AEMO’s estimated Victorian shortfall.
“Total available production is forecast to reduce from 360 petajoules in 2022 to 243 petajoules in 2026.” However, the regulator expects production from the gas fields off the Gippsland coast to fall from 312 petajoules in 2022 to 200 petajoules in 2026.
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