Appea calls for more exploration acreage
PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) has called for the release of more gas acreage to combat Australia’s high wholesale gas prices.
Appea CEO Andrew McConville pointed to the results of the latest international survey of wholesale gas prices by the International Gas Union (IGU), which shows Australia’s average natural gas prices remain competitive, however, the country is faced with higher wholesale gas prices when compared with other leading producers.
The 2021 IGU’s Wholesale Gas Price Survey shows the average wholesale gas price in the Asia-Pacific last year was around 27% higher than in Australia, which was $5.28/million British thermal units (MMBTU).
The average wholesale price in the Asian region was also around 20% higher than the average Australian wholesale price.
The IGU survey again showed the highest wholesale gas prices in the world were found in the main liquefied natural gas (LNG) importing nations of Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, at between $8 to $9/MMBTU. Australia’s other major gas export market, China had the fifth highest prices in the survey.
“Our gas is competitive, reliable and helps reduce emissions in Asia. The myth perpetuated by vested interests that Australian gas is more expensive domestically than in our major trading partners is simply not true,” said McConville.
“The statistics also show countries with the highest gas prices including Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and China – well above Australia – all have successful major manufacturing sectors.”
The IGU said the lowest prices were found in countries with regulated markets where producers often sold gas below the cost of production and transportation. Those low-cost producers included Turkmenistan, Algeria and Venezuela.
McConville said Australia does face higher wholesale gas prices than other leading gas producers, including the US, Canada, Russia and in the Middle East.
“This in large part reflects the high cost of doing business in Australia, and ongoing impact of restrictions on the development of natural resources,” he said.
“We need more gas closer to major population centres but we can only do this by removing unnecessary government restrictions on exploration and development as it is the most effective way to boost supply, enhance competition and put downward pressure on prices, ensuring Australia retains or improves its global position while enjoying the substantial and ongoing benefits from our LNG exports.
“At present, our industry faces the higher cost of transporting to major manufacturing centres because of the ongoing impact of restrictions on the development of new supplies close to market.”
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation