Australia is still an attractive investment destination for exploration and development
Joe Keith A *A
Joe is a Technical Research Associate Director for S&P Global Commodity Insights, with over 19 years’ experience in the upstream energy industry. Currently, he is part of the Australasia upstream research team, leading several regions, and working on exploration and production data and market intelligence for S&P Global. Joe holds a Bsc (Hons) in Geology and Oceanography from the University of Southampton, UK, and he has previously worked as a geological logging specialist for Baker Hughes across Australian hydrocarbon fields and as an offshore geophysicist for Fugro in Australia, Norway, Papua New Guinea and the UK. |
Abstract
Australia is widely considered to be facing gas shortfalls for supply to the domestic markets, from Western Australia to the east coast. Gas shortfall forecasts have previously been addressed through the addition of new resources from greenfield and backfill developments, both onshore and offshore. Continuing this trend will offer exploration and investment opportunities across the country. However, current production outlooks, which include developed and production-ready assets, forecast that new gas supplies will not be adequate despite declining gas demand. Thus, the Future Gas Strategy was released by the Federal Government in May 2024. Onshore exploration incentives are available, and offshore acreage has again been awarded in a holistic approach to bring new production online. But are there existing plays and proven assets ready to be matured or developed that are unattainable through regulatory restrictions? Across the Australian states and territories, moratoriums, policies and temporary/permanent bans have prevented much-needed exploration as remaining reserves fail to match demand forecasts. Within basins covered by past and present government interventions, there are recognised exploration potential hotspots currently out of bounds to explorers. This paper looks at the domestic gas outlook and considers how restrictive policies can impact exploration, which is needed to secure the future gas requirements.
Keywords: carbon capture and storage (CCS), energy security, exploration, future gas strategy, gas supply/demand, hydraulic fracture stimulation (HFS), regulatory reform, renewable energy.
Joe is a Technical Research Associate Director for S&P Global Commodity Insights, with over 19 years’ experience in the upstream energy industry. Currently, he is part of the Australasia upstream research team, leading several regions, and working on exploration and production data and market intelligence for S&P Global. Joe holds a Bsc (Hons) in Geology and Oceanography from the University of Southampton, UK, and he has previously worked as a geological logging specialist for Baker Hughes across Australian hydrocarbon fields and as an offshore geophysicist for Fugro in Australia, Norway, Papua New Guinea and the UK. |
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