Department of Natural Resources and Mines perspective on gas resource development

Abstract

The Queensland gas sector is undergoing significant transition with emerging opportunities and risks to the state. Australian east coast demand for gas will increase dramatically by 2020, driven primarily by LNG and domestic demand. On the downside, high exploration and development costs and low global oil prices are leading to a scarcity of development capital. Moreover, some domestic consumers remain concerned about gas affordability and availability. To support the sector and remove barriers to increasing gas supply, the Queensland Government has undertaken extensive analysis and research into the factors that are constraining gas exploration and development—be that geological, technological, gas and pipeline market design, social licence, regulatory, skills, capital, or other. The analysis demonstrates that there are a range of constraints, and that governments at all levels have an important role to play. This extended abstract summarises the key supply constraints that have been identified in a number of studies recently undertaken by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines.