East coast gas: resource potential at different gas price scenarios (Part 2: commercialisation of unconventional gas resources)

Abstract

Rising gas prices in the eastern Australian gas market, as well as forecast supply shortages in years to come, are driving speculation about LNG import requirements for the market. There are significant similarities with the gas market experience in the USA in the early 2000s which led to the construction of many LNG import terminals, the parallel rise of unconventional gas production and the subsequent mothballing of the LNG import facilities at huge economic cost. A comprehensive east coast gas market study has been carried out based on the 2P reserves positions for domestic gas producers. This data has been paired with a range of gas demand forecasts to identify the probable supply gap on the east coast over the next 10 years. A market response to the high gas pricing in the form of new developments is already underway. In a separate paper (Part 1) all potential domestic sources of unconventional gas to fill that gap were analysed to determine likely gas supply rates, development schedules and breakeven supply costs for each of the major demand centres. This paper (Part 2) illustrates the required gas prices to drive unconventional gas development in Australia, the subsequent scale of new unconventional gas supplies to the forecast gaps in the market and describes how those developments can reverse the trend of rising prices over time.