26 March 2015
NSW has a gas policy problem
Coal seam gas is shaping as one of the major issues ahead of the NSW election this Saturday.
Farmers want their land and water protected while green groups want the environment conserved and action to reduce greenhouse gases.
Labor has promised a ban on CSG production on the North Coast and Liverpool Plains, an area where gas producers like Metgasco and Santos have spent hundreds of millions developing gas fields.
Meanwhile, a looming gas shortage is leaving manufacturers in NSW struggling to lock in long term contracts at reasonable prices.
Ben Eade from lobby group Manufacturing Australia said the main issue was not just supply, but competition.
"We need to get on with the job of getting more supply of gas, but also more suppliers and a transparent and functioning gas market," he said.
Currently the gas market is dominated by the likes of Santos, BHP and Exxon. Mr Eade said it was not enough to generate competition to bring down prices.
NSW Resources Minister Anthony Roberts said the solution was partly to produce more gas, but he said the industry had to deal with the public's deep concern about CSG.
"The development of this industry is still not something that is being embraced by the people of NSW," Mr Roberts said.
He said there were 1.2 million household gas users in NSW, 33,000 gas reliant businesses, over 500 heavy industrial users and 300,000 employees.
"The average person has no idea that a gas crisis is looming," Mr Roberts said.
"They don't know why their gas bills rose this year.
"They don't understand the consequences of this for manufacturers and workers or jobs."
Energy Retailers Association of Australia CEO Cameron O'Reilly said the industry had to do better
"We've got to ask, 'How did it get to this situation where Labor see the opportunity to capitalise on that issue?'
"The fact is that there's a trust deficit which the industry has to recognise and it is critical what the Government does."
Tony Houston is a consultant representing an overseas exploration company that wants to invest in the domestic gas market.
He said they have $20 million to invest and are involved in projects worth up to $1 billion.
Mr Houston said the company would not be putting money into NSW.
"NSW is showing such a lack of interest that the companies that I'm representing...don't see it as a climate that they want to invest time and resources in, or even investigate."
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