Australia’s government has included initiatives for substantial natural gas development with the launch of its Future Gas Strategy plan intended to help the country transition to cleaner energy by 2050.
The latest plan assures global energy partners and foreign investors that the Australian government is a committed, reliable supplier of liquified natural gas.
“It is clear we will need continued exploration, investment and development in the sector to support the path to net zero for Australia and for our export partners, and to avoid a shortfall in gas supplies," said Resources Minister Madeline King.
King told news media that the country could not rely on “past investments to get us through the next decade, as existing fields deplete.”
The 60-plus page document includes plans for increasing investment in domestic natural gas production to avoid both domestic and export supply gaps. It also includes detailed forecasts of LNG demand from Australia out to 2035.
Australia is currently the third largest LNG exporter in the world after the United States and Qatar.
Future gas projects will rely on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) to help meet Australia’s net-zero targets, although the government has yet to publish its full decarbonization plan.
The Australian Energy Producers (AEP) supported the new plan. However, AEP CEO Samantha McCulloch said significant investments are needed to avoid future market shortfalls. Australia’s LNG export demand to Asia is forecast to grow significantly by 2050, according to the AEP.
It would be short-sighted, McCulloch said, “and at odds with Australia’s commitment to global emissions reductions if we were to stifle LNG exports and miss out on the significant economic opportunity on our doorstep.”
Natural gas exploration in Australia has fallen over the last decade. In response, the government has introduced controversial short-term measures, including the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism, which orders the diversion of feed gas intended for export to meet local gas supply shortfalls.
For April, Australia exported 6.70 million metric tons (mmt) of the super-chilled fuel, according to EnergyQuest. In March, producers shipped 7.24 mmt, slightly more than the 7.06 mmt shipped in February.
Environmentalists opposed plans to increase drilling for gas, saying it will delay Australia’s net-zero goals. Woodside Energy Group Ltd and Santos Ltd. are currently facing environmental opposition to oil and gas projects off the coast of northwestern Australia.
"Placing a long-term commitment to this… climate-polluting fuel at the core of transition policy does exactly zero to ensure affordable gas for domestic use here in Australia first," Tim Buckley, director of independent consultancy Climate Energy Finance, said in a statement.
