PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian government has reiterated its commitment to maintaining Australia’s position as the top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world.

Speaking at the Australian Financial Review’s Energy and Climate summit, federal Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the government would invest to unlock supply, strengthen gas infrastructure planning and deliver market reform to lower the price of gas, particularly contract prices for manufacturers and households.

“We have seen great progress on domestic spot gas prices coming into line with lower international prices we’ve seen in recent times. We want to see long-term domestic gas contracts to be internationally competitive to support our manufacturing sector, and ensure there is sufficient new gas generation to complement our growing renewable capacity.

“The national gas infrastructure plan development process will be fundamentally important to this. We want, as always, a transparent open process where the government can engage with the industry on the gaps and to discuss how government can help industry to plug those gaps,” the Minister said.

He noted that this was not an attack on upstream players, or a subsidy for the users.

“This is about making sure that we have the settings right, the infrastructure right and the investment settings right to keep Australia as a global player in gas and in crucial downstream energy intensive manufacturing sectors.

“There can be no doubt that we are in the midst of extraordinary technology change in energy, on a scale that we haven’t seen since the electrification of developed economies.”

Taylor told delegates that emerging technologies offered the prospect of ample affordable reliable energy and low-cost emissions reduction, across the five priority areas in the government’s Technology Investment Roadmap, including hydrogen, stored energy, low emissions steel and aluminium, soil carbon and carbon capture and storage.

“There is limitless opportunity for Australia in a world with such change going on. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves that these are off-the-shelf technologies ready to replace incumbent technologies at little or no cost.

“There is an enormous amount of work necessary for these technologies to deliver their potential without imposing economic burdens on consumers, whether in Australia or our customers overseas.

“So we must be deliberate, we must be prepared, and we must make well targeted investments in emerging energy and emissions reduction technologies.

Technologies offer the greatest potential for Australia and the world to reduce emissions whilst strengthening our economy, not weakening it.

“I think that our geographical, demographic and renewable strengths will see us strengthen our position as an energy supplier of choice throughout our region.

I see us exporting hydrogen, potentially as ammonia, to many of our customers.

That is why this federal government has money to develop our first hydrogen hub,” Taylor said.

The Minister said on Monday that a gas-fired recovery was part of the government’s plans for a post Covid-19 economy.

“Our competitive advantage has always been based on affordable energy, and access to affordable, reliable gas drives affordable energy. 

“Gas plays an important role in Australia’s manufacturing sector, which employs over 850 000 Australians and is an essential input in the production of plastics for personal protective equipment and fertiliser for food production.

“The role of gas in manufacturing is far broader than is typically acknowledged – it provides direct heat, it is a chemical feedstock, and it plays a pivotal role in the price of electricity. 

“Affordable, reliable gas can make a remarkable difference across all three of these areas, whilst at the same time bringing down emissions. To demonise gas, as many seek to do, is both irresponsible and intellectually dishonest,” Taylor added.