The Premier acknowledges that domestic gas prices will rise post-2015, influenced by multiple contracts including Gorgon, North West Shelf, Macedon, and Devil Creek. He expresses optimism about future onshore gas supply and highlights existing issues with coal supply.

AnsweredQoN 864Legislative Assembly
Asked
30 November 2011
Portfolio
Premier

QuestionView source ↗

GORGON GAS CONTRACTS — ENERGY PRICES
I have a supplementary question. Can the Premier guarantee or not guarantee that the signing of these contracts will not mean bigger bills for families? Mr C.J. BARNETT

AnswerView source ↗

Post-2015, yes, the price of domestic gas will be higher than it is today. How much will depend on not only this contract but also the other contracts. There will hopefully be a renegotiation and rollover of that North West Shelf contract. It will probably not be at the price it was, but hopefully it will be somewhere in between. Those negotiations will go on. The Macedon gas project is already into construction; it will be developed solely for the domestic market. Devil Creek, again, is for the domestic market. I am also optimistic that some of the exploration activity in the Canning Basin will bring on onshore gas supply, which clearly will be for the domestic market. We have to encourage that exploration development. Yes, the scenario is for rising fuel costs and, as members are aware, there have been serious issues with coal supply, volume and price coming out of Collie. Energy is a very difficult issue at the moment, but although the price is higher, I think that agreement is a good result and gives some confidence about security of supply.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: Post-2015, yes, the price of domestic gas will be higher than it is today. How much will depend on not only this contract but also the other contracts. There will hopefully be a renegotiation and rollover of that North West Shelf contract. It will probably not be at the price it was, but hopefully it will be somewhere in between. Those negotiations will go on. The Macedon gas project is already into construction; it will be developed solely for the domestic market. Devil Creek, again, is for the domestic market. I am also optimistic that some of the exploration activity in the Canning Basin will bring on onshore gas supply, which clearly will be for the domestic market. We have to encourage that exploration development. Yes, the scenario is for rising fuel costs and, as members are aware, there have been serious issues with coal supply, volume and price coming out of Collie. Energy is a very difficult issue at the moment, but although the price is higher, I think that agreement is a good result and gives some confidence about security of supply.
Post-2015, yes, the price of domestic gas will be higher than it is today. How much will depend on not only this contract but also the other contracts. There will hopefully be a renegotiation and rollover of that North West Shelf contract. It will probably not be at the price it was, but hopefully it will be somewhere in between. Those negotiations will go on. The Macedon gas project is already into construction; it will be developed solely for the domestic market. Devil Creek, again, is for the domestic market. I am also optimistic that some of the exploration activity in the Canning Basin will bring on onshore gas supply, which clearly will be for the domestic market. We have to encourage that exploration development. Yes, the scenario is for rising fuel costs and, as members are aware, there have been serious issues with coal supply, volume and price coming out of Collie. Energy is a very difficult issue at the moment, but although the price is higher, I think that agreement is a good result and gives some confidence about security of supply.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more