Queensland opens up domestic gas for manufacturing

Friday, 23 November, 2018

The Queensland Government has opened up a section of the south-east Queensland gas fields for exploration on the basis that the supply will be exclusively for local manufacturing customers.

Queensland Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham has announced that tenders opened on Thursday for an 18 km² block in the proven Surat Basin gasfields. Any gas produced can only be sold to Australian manufacturers.

“We know that an industry affected by the nation’s domestic gas shortage has been manufacturing — an industry which has been crying out for a stable, reliable gas supply,” Lynham said. “Once again, Queensland is doing the heavy lifting on gas policy stepping up to provide a boost to our manufacturing industry by supplying gas they need.”

Queensland Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick welcomed the initiative.

“There are a number of manufacturing industries in Queensland for whom gas is a key input and access to a reliable supply of affordably priced gas is critical to the ongoing viability of those industries,” he said.

Lynham announced Australia’s first release of gas land to supply the domestic market only in February 2017. Since then, almost another 25,000 km² has been released in Queensland for gas exploration, almost a third of it for the domestic market only.