❓ The Premier outlines the benefits of a state agreement with Buru Energy and Mitsubishi Corporation to develop the Canning Basin onshore gas resource, highlighting its potential to secure WA's energy supplies and boost the state's economy.
AnsweredQoN 672Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CANNING
BASIN ONSHORE GAS RESOURCE — STATE AGREEMENT
672. Mr
I.C. BLAYNEY to
the Premier:
Today, the Premier; Minister for
State Development announced that the state government had signed an agreement
with Buru Energy and Mitsubishi Corporation that will help secure Western
Australia's energy supplies for the future. Can the Premier please
outline exactly how this agreement will benefit Western Australians?
BASIN ONSHORE GAS RESOURCE — STATE AGREEMENT
672. Mr
I.C. BLAYNEY to
the Premier:
Today, the Premier; Minister for
State Development announced that the state government had signed an agreement
with Buru Energy and Mitsubishi Corporation that will help secure Western
Australia's energy supplies for the future. Can the Premier please
outline exactly how this agreement will benefit Western Australians?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Geraldton for his question, because
indeed I think this agreement will have very positive implications for the
midwest as well as for the Pilbara. Led by Buru Energy, a Western Australian–based
company, exploration has been going on for some time in the Canning Basin. It has
always been known that there are gas and some oil reserves within the Canning
Basin—the Blina project and so on. What has become evident in recent
times is that this is a massive energy resource. The US Energy Information
Administration estimates that the onshore reserves of shale gas could be of the
order of 229 trillion cubic feet. To put that in context, that is one and a half
times the size of the estimated offshore gas reserves in the Canning and Browse
Basins. This is a massive natural resource. Today, I was pleased to sign, along
with Buru Energy and Mitsubishi Corporation, a state agreement to facilitate
the development of that onshore gas resource. Of course being onshore,
constitutionally that gas belongs to the people of Western Australia. This is
possibly the most significant advance in developing our natural resources since
the development of Pilbara iron ore and the original North West Shelf gas.
There is a great deal of exploration work to be done that will extend over
several years. This agreement extends the life of exploration permits to allow
the companies the time to raise the capital—not to raise the capital; I
think they have that, but to do the exploration and to prove up that reserve.
The agreement does a number of other things. It ensures that
the development of that gas will be, in the first instance, for the Western
Australian domestic market. It has priority. If the project proves sufficient
gas to go into a liquefied natural gas export phase, the 15 per cent domestic
gas reservation will apply. It also facilitates the development of a gas
pipeline and a domestic gas plant so that gas from the Canning Basin can be
brought into the pipeline grid. There is several years of work to be done. This
will be another huge milestone in the economic development of Western
Australia.
I stress that this is shale gas, so
yes, its extraction will require fraccing. Shale gas in that region is two to
four kilometres below the surface. It is not like the coal seam gas being
developed in Queensland, which is near the surface and mixed with the
watertable; this is deep-seated, two to four kilometres down. One would expect
there would be few environmental issues, certainly not in comparison with those
that exist on the east coast. Proper work is being done, it is being properly
supervised, and I certainly expect that within five years we will see the
proving up of the reserve, the development of a domestic gas plant, and gas
from the Canning Basin onshore, coming into our main pipeline system. As I say,
if we look at the history of this state—Pilbara iron ore and North West
Shelf gas—Buru and Mitsubishi's onshore Canning Basin may be
the big next step in the story of resource development in this state.
indeed I think this agreement will have very positive implications for the
midwest as well as for the Pilbara. Led by Buru Energy, a Western Australian–based
company, exploration has been going on for some time in the Canning Basin. It has
always been known that there are gas and some oil reserves within the Canning
Basin—the Blina project and so on. What has become evident in recent
times is that this is a massive energy resource. The US Energy Information
Administration estimates that the onshore reserves of shale gas could be of the
order of 229 trillion cubic feet. To put that in context, that is one and a half
times the size of the estimated offshore gas reserves in the Canning and Browse
Basins. This is a massive natural resource. Today, I was pleased to sign, along
with Buru Energy and Mitsubishi Corporation, a state agreement to facilitate
the development of that onshore gas resource. Of course being onshore,
constitutionally that gas belongs to the people of Western Australia. This is
possibly the most significant advance in developing our natural resources since
the development of Pilbara iron ore and the original North West Shelf gas.
There is a great deal of exploration work to be done that will extend over
several years. This agreement extends the life of exploration permits to allow
the companies the time to raise the capital—not to raise the capital; I
think they have that, but to do the exploration and to prove up that reserve.
The agreement does a number of other things. It ensures that
the development of that gas will be, in the first instance, for the Western
Australian domestic market. It has priority. If the project proves sufficient
gas to go into a liquefied natural gas export phase, the 15 per cent domestic
gas reservation will apply. It also facilitates the development of a gas
pipeline and a domestic gas plant so that gas from the Canning Basin can be
brought into the pipeline grid. There is several years of work to be done. This
will be another huge milestone in the economic development of Western
Australia.
I stress that this is shale gas, so
yes, its extraction will require fraccing. Shale gas in that region is two to
four kilometres below the surface. It is not like the coal seam gas being
developed in Queensland, which is near the surface and mixed with the
watertable; this is deep-seated, two to four kilometres down. One would expect
there would be few environmental issues, certainly not in comparison with those
that exist on the east coast. Proper work is being done, it is being properly
supervised, and I certainly expect that within five years we will see the
proving up of the reserve, the development of a domestic gas plant, and gas
from the Canning Basin onshore, coming into our main pipeline system. As I say,
if we look at the history of this state—Pilbara iron ore and North West
Shelf gas—Buru and Mitsubishi's onshore Canning Basin may be
the big next step in the story of resource development in this state.
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