Gas finds put us in big league
By Mathew Murphy | theage.com.au | 02 September
Gas Reserves: Pretty as a picture.
Australia could soon be rated in the top 10 countries for gas reserves, according to a leading industry report that shows the nation's gas production is benefiting from the liquefied natural gas boom.
EnergyQuest's quarterly report for August shows that Australia's total gas production increased by 4.8 per cent in the year to June compared to the same period last year, reaching a record 1779 petajoules.
EnergyQuest — the respected energy advisory firm — now estimates that Australia's natural gas reserves (those that are proved, probable and possible) combined with resources (a best estimate) total over 200,000 petajoules, or 200 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Graeme Bethune, EnergyQuest chief executive, said Australia was likely to bolster its credentials as a leading gas hub.
'We expect Australia will be among the top 10 countries globally measured by the size of its gas reserves, up from its current 14th position," he said. "Notwithstanding the fact that we have terrific potential, I think that it is unlikely that we will be the Middle East of gas, which has 10 times more gas then we do."
Dr Bethune said the growth in Australia's gas market was predominantly due to increased exports of LNG from the North-West Shelf off Western Australia. "We have seen nearly 12 million tonnes a year contracted in a short space of time — that is what Australia's total production was just a few years ago.
"We are also seeing a number of new countries that are importing LNG. China is becoming a growing importer: India, Malaysia, Singapore, Chile — there is a lot of interest in LNG."
He predicted that Australia would begin to conserve more of its gas rather than exporting it, to avoid the situation experienced in countries such as Argentina, which once used to export gas but is now a net importer.
"This country currently uses relatively less gas than other countries in meeting its own energy needs," he said. "The latest figures on world energy use from BP show that natural gas meets around 18 per cent of Australia's energy needs, well below the global average of 24 per cent."
Natural gas consumption over the past decade has grown 2.9 per cent a year globally, while in Australia the growth has been a modest 1.4 per cent a year.
First published by TheAge.com.au on September 02 2009
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