PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) has called on the incoming state government to attract investment in the resources sector, ahead of the March elections in Western Australia.

Appea on Wednesday urged the incoming state government to focus on the investment signals and settings needed to attract investment to ensure it makes the most of its natural resources for the benefit of the community and the economy.

“Our message to all political parties is simple: the industry wants to continue supplying lower emission energy to the state, creating local jobs, supporting regional communities, and generating government revenue. But government must provide stable policy settings and efficient regulatory processes to attract investment if they want to maximise the opportunities we have,” said Appea Western Australian director Claire Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said the industry worked constructively throughout the Covid-19 pandemic with the government and opposition, enabling operations to continue, and seeks to maintain this positive collaboration with the next state government, across all aspects of the industry.

“Natural gas is an essential part of our everyday lives in Western Australia and has supported the local economy during the pandemic, powering our homes, hospitals, mines and manufacturers,” she said.

The oil and gas industry called on the next state government to consult with industry on policies affecting its operation and development, well before they are finalised, and work with industry to clarify the Western Australian Domestic Gas Policy to maximise the existing opportunities in the sector and attract long-term business investment.

“Supporting the responsible development of future gas resources, including those onshore in Western Australia, will be important to securing local jobs and driving recovery in our suburbs and regions.”

Appea also called on political parties to recognise the important role that natural gas plays in reducing emissions and work with industry to pursue technological advancements that could unlock a cleaner energy future.

“Natural gas is already playing an important role in reducing greenhouse emissions. It has lower emissions than other sources of baseload energy and is the perfect complement to renewable technologies because it provides grid stability,” said Wilkinson.

“Technologies like carbon capture and storage will further reduce emissions and facilitate natural gas providing a pathway to large scale, low emissions hydrogen development.

“With state government support, Western Australia can leverage the strengths of our world-class liquefied natural gas sector to become the global leader in lower emission energy technologies such as hydrogen.

“The oil and gas sector wants to be part of the solution and unlock our cleaner energy future.”