The State Government has strengthened Western Australia’s domestic gas policy to ensure security of supply for Western Australians.
The WA Domestic Gas Policy secures the State’s long-term energy needs and ongoing economic development by ensuring that LNG export project developers also make gas equivalent to 15 per cent of exports available to the domestic market.
Premier Mark McGowan announced today that the WA Domestic Gas Policy would be amended to prevent the export of local WA gas.
Under the updated policy, local WA gas cannot be exported to the Eastern States or overseas, and gas used to power ships will not be considered domestic gas.
Due to exceptional economic circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Government has given in-principle support to allow the Waitsia project in the Mid-West to fill available capacity at the Karratha Gas Plant and export some of its gas as LNG for a short period of time.
This arrangement helps ensure the Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2 proceeds to construction. The project will create 200 construction jobs and deliver large volumes of gas into the WA market.
The tightened policy also includes greater transparency and increased reporting so that industry knows who is supplying gas and how much is available in the market.
An estimated 90 per cent of Australia’s recoverable gas reserves are located in the Carnarvon and Browse basins in the North-West and support WA’s LNG export industry, as well as the State’s domestic gas market.
The WA Government is working with the LNG Jobs Taskforce to grow the gas industry, create local jobs and establish WA as a global LNG hub.