Latest news with #CecileWake
The Age
12 hours ago
- Business
- The Age
Gas giants agree to rein in exports as supply crunch looms
Large gas exporters face unprecedented requirements to keep greater supplies of the fossil fuel in Australia as more industry executives indicate they are willing to work with the Albanese government to finally establish domestic reservation rules. In a major reversal of oil and gas giants' long-running opposition to calls for an east-coast gas reserve, global energy major Shell has become the second major gas company to say it is prepared to support new domestic supply commitments, including rules that would compel liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters to set aside a specified amount of their gas production that cannot be sold overseas and must be delivered only to local buyers. The move comes amid intensifying concerns from Australian governments, regulators and gas users that too much LNG is being shipped offshore from Queensland, exacerbating a supply crunch and driving up prices in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia as the decades-old gas fields in Bass Strait continue to rapidly deplete. Australia has become one of the biggest global suppliers of LNG, a commodity that rakes in tens of billions of dollars of revenue a year. While Western Australia has its own gas reservation policy, requiring the LNG industry to hold back 15 per cent of their reserves, there were never such rules imposed on Queensland exporters when their terminals were launched a decade ago. Shell, which produces super-chilled LNG at its QCLNG joint venture near Gladstone, has told the federal government it would now back new commitments or reservation rules, as long as they applied equitably across the industry and were accompanied by a set of regulatory changes to remove barriers to drilling and developing new sources of gas supply. 'Reservation can only be part of a broader framework,' Shell Australia chair Cecile Wake said. 'Without active measures to increase the supply of gas, solely focusing on carving up an ever-diminishing supply will only curb investment and exacerbate the very problem it is trying to resolve.' Loading Last week, another Queensland exporter, Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG), also said it believed an export licensing and permitting regime that guaranteed supply for the domestic market was the best way to tackle concerns around supply shortfalls and rising prices. APLNG, whose backers include Origin Energy, US giant ConocoPhillips and China's Sinopec, stressed domestic contributions must be spread equitably among exporters. 'An export licensing and permitting regime … could address projected gas supply shortfalls in coming years while providing the investment certainty for the east-coast LNG producers and all market participants to develop new supply,' APLNG said.
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Gas giants agree to rein in exports as supply crunch looms
Large gas exporters face unprecedented requirements to keep greater supplies of the fossil fuel in Australia as more industry executives indicate they are willing to work with the Albanese government to finally establish domestic reservation rules. In a major reversal of oil and gas giants' long-running opposition to calls for an east-coast gas reserve, global energy major Shell has become the second major gas company to say it is prepared to support new domestic supply commitments, including rules that would compel liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters to set aside a specified amount of their gas production that cannot be sold overseas and must be delivered only to local buyers. The move comes amid intensifying concerns from Australian governments, regulators and gas users that too much LNG is being shipped offshore from Queensland, exacerbating a supply crunch and driving up prices in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia as the decades-old gas fields in Bass Strait continue to rapidly deplete. Australia has become one of the biggest global suppliers of LNG, a commodity that rakes in tens of billions of dollars of revenue a year. While Western Australia has its own gas reservation policy, requiring the LNG industry to hold back 15 per cent of their reserves, there were never such rules imposed on Queensland exporters when their terminals were launched a decade ago. Shell, which produces super-chilled LNG at its QCLNG joint venture near Gladstone, has told the federal government it would now back new commitments or reservation rules, as long as they applied equitably across the industry and were accompanied by a set of regulatory changes to remove barriers to drilling and developing new sources of gas supply. 'Reservation can only be part of a broader framework,' Shell Australia chair Cecile Wake said. 'Without active measures to increase the supply of gas, solely focusing on carving up an ever-diminishing supply will only curb investment and exacerbate the very problem it is trying to resolve.' Loading Last week, another Queensland exporter, Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG), also said it believed an export licensing and permitting regime that guaranteed supply for the domestic market was the best way to tackle concerns around supply shortfalls and rising prices. APLNG, whose backers include Origin Energy, US giant ConocoPhillips and China's Sinopec, stressed domestic contributions must be spread equitably among exporters. 'An export licensing and permitting regime … could address projected gas supply shortfalls in coming years while providing the investment certainty for the east-coast LNG producers and all market participants to develop new supply,' APLNG said.
Reuters
31-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Shell warns Australia's gas reservation plan could worsen shortages
SYDNEY, April 1 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab warned on Tuesday that a proposal in Australia to force more export gas into the domestic market could end up deterring investment and exacerbating shortages. Ahead of Australia's May 3 general election, energy has emerged as a major campaign issue with the conservative Liberal-National coalition pledging to bring down power bills and prevent a looming shortage on the east coast through a gas reservation scheme. The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. However, Shell Australia Chair Cecile Wake said export controls were not the right solution and questioned whether they would materially affect consumer prices. "The fact that the easiest lever the federal government now has to solve the southern gas problem is export controls, is not a reason to pull that lever harder," she told a gas conference in Sydney. "This does not increase supply; it simply redistributes it and when coupled with price caps and other market interventions, it can impede investment and exacerbate the challenge." Australia produces more gas than domestic needs, but most supply is contracted for export. The competition regulator has warned the east could face a gas shortage by 2027. Coalition opposition leader Peter Dutton said that if elected, his party would force exporters to direct 10% to 20% more product into the domestic market, with penalties for non-compliance. Existing export contracts would be unaffected and the extra supply would instead come from uncontracted gas being sold on international spot markets. The ruling centre-left Labor party has focused on renewables but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would also be willing to use emergency powers to direct gas producers to divert supply in case of a shortage. Wake criticised the "ideologically polarised and politicised debate about energy policy" and said the government should pursue policies that encouraged investment instead. "Rather than redistributing an ever-diminishing pie, let's make the pie bigger," she said.
