gas generic

Export demand for gas has surged. Photo: Michele Mossop




Rising LNG exports from Queensland were expected to require 43,000 to 53,000 petajoules of gas reserves, AEMO said. If reserves were not developed in a timely fashion, supply shortfalls might emerge as export projects began to reach their capacity from 2016.


Much of the forecast rise in gas demand would be for exports, with electricity generators unlikely to install new gas-fired plants for at least a decade, the forecast said.

Combined-cycle gas turbines would require a higher carbon price and lower gas prices to compete with other generation sources, the survey noted, although there was ongoing need for gas peak-power generation.

In the medium to long term, depletion of gas in the Cooper-Eromanga basins in central Australia might prompt the development of reserves elsewhere to maintain supplies to New South Wales.

As conventional gas reserves were depleted or committed to export projects, coal seam gas, shale and tight gas reserves would be used by the domestic market. Increased pipeline capacity might be needed, with gasfields near Casino in New South Wales likely to be tapped from 2018.