Details unveiled for plan to keep more gas at home
Gas exporters will have to divert a fifth of their output to the domestic energy market in a bid to drive down prices and cope with long-term forecasts of shortages.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Thursday unveiled plans for an east coast gas reserve that would include earmarking 20 per cent of exports for use in Australia from July 2027.
“This is a carefully calibrated model that ensures Australia’s national interests are put first,” he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
“Australia has been the only gas exporting country in the world without any reservation policy.
“This situation is changing under the Albanian government.”
The booking scheme will apply to terminals in Queensland and the Northern Territory and will only apply to contracts signed after the policy comes into force.
Mr Bowen first flagged the reservation policy in December due to opposition from the gas industry.
In his speech on Thursday, the minister acknowledged that not everyone would be happy with the change.
The reserve plans come as the federal government excluded new measures to tax gas exports in Tuesday’s budget.
Gas exports from Australia have been used as leverage in negotiations with its Southeast Asian neighbors to shore up fuel supplies as the Iran war hurts oil prices.
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