Regulatory support is urgently needed to encourage investment in new gas and LNG supply projects in Victoria and NSW states.
Six months ago, when Adelaide-based Beach Energy revealed that a new “extremely disappointing” assessment had dramatically diminished gas reserves at its nearshore Enterprise field in Victoria, Australia, Global LNG Info asked “Is importing LNG a necessity for Victoria?” and now it finds that the answer is precisely Yes.
The Enterprise gas field, which is now estimated to contain about one-third less natural gas and expected to run out of resources sooner than originally thought, started to produce gas just 8 months ago.
This setback along with rapidly declining output from ExxonMobil-operated gas fields in Bass Strait suggests that to mitigate the risks of looming shortfalls and higher gas prices in the high season period, local and federal governments have to secure additional sources of gas supply by decisively and urgently supporting LNG import project(s).
The Bass Strait gas fields’ development project was Australia’s first major offshore oil and gas development, located off the southeast coast of Victoria.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned that gas shortages in the southern states such as Victoria were likely to become more pronounced in 2026 and structural by 2028.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill has recently remarked that “affordable energy” and tapping new gas supplies are vital for Victoria’s prosperity.
According to the Global LNG Database®, several LNG import projects have been proposed for the Australian east coast region (New South Wales and Victoria). However, two of them have already been canceled and the other least progressed projects are struggling to receive local authorities’ approvals and secure long-term customers required to underpin the project’s finance.
“Regulatory support is urgently needed to encourage investment in new gas and LNG supply projects in Victoria and NSW states.”
For now, the sole advanced LNG import project in Australia is Squadron’s Port Kembla Gas Terminal, located off Port Kembla in New South Wales. Hoegh Galleon FSRU would be utilized for the terminal under a 15-year contract. The under-development project’s start-up was initially scheduled for 2020-Q1, but now it is expected to be commissioned in 2026-Q2 subject to secure sufficient demand for the terminal’s capacity.
Perfect information about the world’s LNG import/export projects such as Australian LNG exports/imports projects is available on the Global LNG Database®. If you have not yet subscribed, learn more at:
here
Follow Global LNG Info
