The Australian: Natural gas development underpins Queensland’s economy

Queensland’s booming gas sector, with $70 billion in projects being constructed, towers over NSW’s struggling industry, drilling more than 22 times the number of gas wells and employing almost 100 per cent of the industry’s workforce.

Figures to be released by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association today indicate that natural gas development is underpinning Queensland’s economy while the picture is more stark in NSW, which has put the brakes on its coal-seam gas sector. In Queensland, where $70bn worth of coal-seam gas/liquefied natural gas projects are being developed, landholders have signed more than 4500 land access agreements with gas companies since 2011.

APPEA chief operating officer, eastern Australia, Paul Fennelly, said landholders in Queensland had been signing agreements at a rate of 2.8 a day over the past year and there had been no formal land access disputes. “Queensland has set a benchmark other eastern Australian states must match if they are to address supply shortfalls by safely exploring and producing local natural gas resources,” he said. “NSW in particular should be looking and learning from the Queensland experience.”

Santos and AGL both signed a pledge to NSW farming groups late last month not to enter land for CSG drilling if the landholder does not want them to. The move was an attempt to cool the heated debate on the NSW industry, which has been the target of vocal opposition and seen the state government halt the advancement of the sector. MORE

Sign-up for our free weekly newsletter update via email here