Beetaloo Energy wins consent of traditional owners to sell appraisal gas sourced from Northern Territory basin

Sky News AU

27-06-2025

A traditional owner from the Northern Territory has explained why she ditched her opposition to fracking and now supports the onshore gas industry.
Gudunji woman Joni Maree Wilson spoke to Sky News at Beetaloo Energy Australia's Carpentaria well site in the Beetaloo Basin, where she works as a safety officer.
'I was really against fracking about three or four years ago, I was one of the people who went to Canberra to go against fracking, but what changed my mind is I came here and (Beetaloo Energy) gave me employment to come and see for myself what it was all about,' she said.
Beetaloo Energy, formerly known as Empire Energy, this week signed a consent agreement with traditional owners for the sale of appraisal gas from one of its exploration permits in the Beetaloo Basin.
The agreement was reached in the same week Beetaloo Energy was criticised for engaging the consultant, Good Advice, which was accused of misrepresenting the views of traditional owners.
Beetaloo Energy managing director Alex Underwood said the criticism was misplaced.
'I think as the process over the last couple of days demonstrates, we have very much gone through the front door with traditional owners, we've informed them about their activities and we're actually employing a number of TOs on site right now and we've gained their trust and have mutual respect and we're delighted to be working with them,' he said.
Ms Wilson said she hoped the onshore gas industry would provide better outcomes for her people.
'This will benefit a lot, this will benefit employment for my people, this will benefit opportunities in the future,' she said.
'Decades and decades of jobs and employment, we don't have to go to other cities and other towns and leave our homes, we'll have employment right here on our doorstep.'
Some analysts believe the basin, which is about the size of Belgium, has enough gas to power Australia's domestic energy needs for 200 years.
Mr Underwood said he expected production of appraisal gas, which will help power the Northern Territory's domestic electricity grid, to begin within months.
The longer-term goal is to pipe Beetaloo gas to Australia's east coast, where the resource is in short supply.
'I think the Beetaloo is the most important basin for resolving those issues. Not only are we facing shortages but we need our economy to grow in the future, and that's going to need more gas,' he said.
It's also hoped the Beetaloo Basin will provide much-needed jobs, particularly in remote parts of the Northern Territory.
'The independent experts are saying it could be in the thousands, I think that could potentially be pretty conservative,' Mr Underwood said.
'Right here on site now, we've got 90 people working on site, for one well.'
*Matt Cunningham travelled to the Beetaloo Basin as a guest of Beetaloo Energy