The government of Australia’s state of Queensland is ramping up efforts to boost local natural gas supply by opening new land for gas exploration.
Queensland is unlocking more than 6700 square kilometres of gas exploration acreage in 12 parcels.
The land is located in the Bowen and Surat Basins. This proven region is already pumping gas as part of Queensland’s $70 billion onshore gas and LNG industry.
Unlocking new fields is about keeping exploration moving in Queensland to support the state’s post Covid-19 economic recovery, Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said in a statement on Thursday.
He said that more affordable domestic gas supply will help secure more Aussie jobs.
Lynham added that he expects strong interest in the new acreage as the two basins already have gas infrastructure.
This means that any new project could plug straight in and get gas to market faster, he said.
APPEA chief executive Andrew McConville said in a separate statement that Queensland has led the development of onshore gas fields for decades.
He said that the state continues to do the “heavy lifting to meet Australia’s growing needs”.
McConville noted the industry had announced billions of dollars in new investment to bring more gas into the market.
These projects are supporting domestic gas consumption and LNG exports.
The project developers include Arrow Energy, Shell, Cooper Energy, Strike Energy, GLNG, APLNG, Origin Energy, Westside Corporation and Santos.