Queensland’s coal seam gas (CSG) projects – hard won lessons relevant to regional development
Katherine Witt A * and David Close AA
Associate Professor Katherine Witt is Chair in Social Performance at The University of Queensland’s Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre. She has been studying the social dimensions of onshore gas development for over 10 years in Queensland and more recently in the Beetaloo region of the Northern Territory. She leads a broad portfolio of research including citizens panels on the future of Australia’s energy system, lessons learned from CSG for renewables, community-led monitoring in the Beetaloo, and social acceptance in hydrogen, biogas, CCS and renewable energy projects. She co-chairs the Social Impacts Section of the International Association for Impact Assessment and delivers training in social licence to operate. |
Professor David Close is the Director of The University of Queensland’s Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre, where he leads an experienced, multi-disciplinary team undertaking research across all aspects of the role of gas in the energy transition. The Centre’s research focus areas include communities and co-existence, environment, decarbonisation and energy security. In addition to his current appointment, David has extensive experience in private sector, senior leadership roles leading the delivery of subsurface, stakeholder engagement, operations, and commercial workstreams. David holds a PhD in Marine Geophysics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Tasmania. |
Abstract
This paper reflects on 10 years of research and experience in Queensland’s coal seam gas (CSG) development, focusing on social performance and outcomes for regional stakeholders. In this time, CSG operators have executed hundreds of land access and compensation agreements with landholders. Agreements, the contract between landholders and upstream operators, provide the legal framework for coexistence on overlapping tenure. Historically, the primary overlap of interests has been between farming and gas development, but there are also overlaps between CSG operations and coal mining areas and intensive agricultural interests such as feedlots, piggeries and regional towns that have had to be negotiated. Although trust in CSG companies has increased over time, and longitudinal social and economic indicators show regional benefits, there have been divisive issues around groundwater management, ‘gassy’ water bores, land and river gas seeps, and subsidence, where each have presented and continue to present challenges to landholders, communities, operators and regulators. Environmental performance, and particularly matters related to water quality and availability, are of critical importance to broader social performance. A qualitative assessment of CSG operations against the International Energy Agency’s Golden Rules of Gas shows that the industry scored well on the continuous improvement scale, with lower scores in community engagement and regional coordination. In summation, we identify lessons that can be learned from the CSG-liquefied natural gas industry around best practices and behaviours to avoid that are relevant to renewable energy developers, transmission projects and the critical minerals industry as they seek to expand throughout minerals provinces of Queensland.
Keywords: coal bed methane, coal seam gas, coexistence, energy transition, liquefied natural gas, land access, social license, social performance, stakeholder engagement.
Associate Professor Katherine Witt is Chair in Social Performance at The University of Queensland’s Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre. She has been studying the social dimensions of onshore gas development for over 10 years in Queensland and more recently in the Beetaloo region of the Northern Territory. She leads a broad portfolio of research including citizens panels on the future of Australia’s energy system, lessons learned from CSG for renewables, community-led monitoring in the Beetaloo, and social acceptance in hydrogen, biogas, CCS and renewable energy projects. She co-chairs the Social Impacts Section of the International Association for Impact Assessment and delivers training in social licence to operate. |
Professor David Close is the Director of The University of Queensland’s Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre, where he leads an experienced, multi-disciplinary team undertaking research across all aspects of the role of gas in the energy transition. The Centre’s research focus areas include communities and co-existence, environment, decarbonisation and energy security. In addition to his current appointment, David has extensive experience in private sector, senior leadership roles leading the delivery of subsurface, stakeholder engagement, operations, and commercial workstreams. David holds a PhD in Marine Geophysics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Tasmania. |
