WA gas solution in the pipeline
ANTHONY Albanese says the federal government is in talks with West Australian gas producers to shore up supplies as the nation teeters on the brink of an energy crisis.
Resources Minister Madeleine King has engaged Woodside and other major providers in discussions about supplying liquefied natural gas to the eastern states.
A cold snap across southeastern Australia, outages at coal-fired power stations, the collapse of a gas supplier and sanctions on Russia have combined to fuel a sharp increase in the wholesale price of gas.
The spot price was already rising due to increased global demand as countries transition from using Russian gas and coal in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
The local supply shortage has developed despite Australia being one of the world’s biggest producers of liquefied natural gas.
The Prime Minister on Friday said some of the constraints on energy supply were “beyond any government’s control” but he placed some of the blame on the Coalition.
“What has occurred with Russia and Ukraine and the consequential significant hike in global prices are beyond people’s control,” Mr Albanese told ABC Radio Perth.
“But what was in the government’s control is actually having an energy policy and we’ve been through nine years of no energy policy.”
He reaffirmed Labor’s support for Woodside’s Scarborough gas project off the WA coast, saying a “simple stop” position on fossil fuels wouldn’t meet the needs of the economy.
Mr Albanese said Energy Minister Chris Bowen was also in talks with the sector over how to alleviate the immediate pressure on businesses and households.
Mr Bowen on Thursday said the Australian energy market was facing a “perfect storm” and warned skyrocketing wholesale prices couldn’t necessarily be solved straight away.
Mr Bowen will hold a meeting with state and territory energy ministers next week to be briefed by the Australian Energy Market Operator and the energy regulator.
“The Albanese Labor government will take whatever action is necessary to ensure ongoing reliability and affordability for the energy markets … based on expert advice,” he said.
Mr Bowen was asked about the prospect of pulling the government’s “gas trigger” that would requisition gas marked for export to bolster local supplies. He said enacting the emergency mechanism would not help in the short term as it wouldn’t come into effect until January next year.
Another option being floated would be to introduce a national domestic gas reservation policy – similar to that which exists in WA – that requires a proportion of gas produced in Australia be kept here.