Calls to restrict billions of dollars-worth of LNG exports in favour of a domestic gas reservation policy will not lead to lower natural gas prices or increase gas supply.
More than $60 billion worth of natural gas projects in Queensland alone, which employ about 30,000 people, would need to be dramatically altered to adhere to Manufacturing Australia’s self-interested proposal.
This would ultimately deter the investment needed to bring on new gas supplies.
East coast gas prices are rising in response to rising costs of supply and market conditions. Any move to cut back on exports is clearly not the right solution.
“Australia benefits when we export goods at market prices. That’s not just true for gas; it’s true for wine, wool, wheat and cotton,” said APPEA Chief Executive David Byers.
“To claim Australia’s gas prices are amongst the highest in the world is demonstrably untrue.
“The best solution to higher gas prices is the production of more gas – not the introduction of new regulation. Such a policy would actually reduce the very investment needed to bring on new supplies.”