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Queensland's
Natural Gas Resources
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QUEENSLAND - NATURAL GAS RESOURCES
It is becoming increasing clear that the Federal
Government does not want to talk about the amount of taxation (or lack thereof) that is contributed to
this country by multinationals. It is of significant concern to the man in the street that
foreign companies, who have a strangle hold on Australian business and income generation
in the country, are failing to contribute adequately to taxation revenue.
This point is illustrated by the fact that the
Australian Prime Minister has signed an 'Agreement in Principle' with South Pacific
Pipeline Company Pty. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational 'Chevron Asiatic Limited', to construct a gas pipeline
from Papua New Guinea for the express purpose of feeding natural gas to power generation
and industrial plants from Townsville to Gladstone.
The two most important questions are:
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As Australia has,
reputedly, the LARGEST natural gas reserves in the Southern Hemisphere, WHY on earth would
the Australian Government even contemplate granting a multinational company the right to
IMPORT natural gas into Queensland?
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What were the tax
incentives promised to this multinational company for the rights to IMPORT natural gas into Queensland? |
The Federal Government must tell Australians, but
more particularly Queenslanders, why the government does not further develop the South
West Queensland Gas fields instead? The South West Queensland basins currently supply
natural gas to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland with pipelines extending to
Gladstone and Mt Isa.
Australians in Rural and Regional Queensland are
screaming for jobs and our Federal Government promotes international employment!
Imagine the chaos that would be created for
Queenslanders should something untoward occur, in relation to the continuity of supply of
gas being IMPORTED into Queensland. It would, unquestionably, have an
unprecedented effect on the State's already antiquated power resources. In short, it WILL
shut off power supply to over 60% of Queensland.
There is no way that the Queensland Independents
would allow anything like this ill-conceived proposal to proceed any further. Is it any
wonder that the man in the street, who has only distrust for the party machines that
control this country, ask, "Are the multinationals funding and controlling the
Australian political parties?"
The GST simply reduces even further the
amount of tax that they (the multinationals) will contribute to this Country's tax
revenue. As the GST is shifting the taxation base of this Country, then it seems
appropriate that the GST (or preferably implement the National Debit Tax
Concept) will be
applied to PROFITS before going offshore from Australia.
The International
Tax Agreement Act - 1953 MUST be rescinded NOW.
Addendum:
Monday September 28th 1998
The tragedy which faced
Victoria's Hospitals, Aged Care Facilities, Industry, Business and over 1.5 million homes
as a result of the natural gas disaster, is an REAL example of the consequences that CAN
occur to Queenslanders who may be forced into depending on natural gas being IMPORTED into
Australia.
Return to: Foreign
Ownership
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GAS FACTS
Queensland - Energy and Gas
Gas is abundant.
Queensland has large reserves of coal seam methane. Supplies
are expected to last at least several hundred years (200/300 years) at current rates of
gas consumption. A 21-km pipeline from the Moura mine to the Duke Energy Queensland
Pipeline was commissioned in December 1995. Coal seam methane was supplied for the first
time in February 1996.
Gas in Queensland.
Queensland is a State of Australian gas industry firsts:
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Australia's first discovery of
natural gas was in Roma, Queensland in 1899;
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Australia's first commercial
gas-fired power station was located in Roma, in 1961; and
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Queensland was the first State to
reticulate natural gas. |
As well, Brisbane was the first Australian capital city to complete the conversion from
towns' gas to natural gas. Reticulation began when the pipeline from Roma to Brisbane was
officially opened on 17 March 1969.
Current and proposed outlets
in Queensland.
Roma, Dalby, Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Gladstone and
Rockhampton regions. Pipelines from Ballera to Wallumbilla and Mt Isa have been built and
construction of a new pipeline from Gatton to Gympie to commenced in 1998. Other pipelines
are proposed from Injune to Petrie and Gladstone to Bundaberg.
See: Queensland Map
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Australia - Energy and Gas
Australia became a natural gas exporter in 1989 and in
1996-97 exported 400 PJ of LNG, worth $1.5 billion (fob). LNG exports were Australia's
third largest energy export in 1996-97.
Australia first exported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Japan in 1989 and since then
has become a major exporter, earning over $1.5 billion (fob) annually. Japan, Spain,
Turkey and South Korea buy Australian LNG. Woodside Petroleum Limited operates a domestic
gas supply plant and major natural gas liquefaction and export facility on the North West
Shelf of Western Australia near Karratha, Australia's largest single resource development
project.
Reserves of natural gas have grown much faster than crude oil reserves. In 1970 world
natural gas reserves were estimated at 50 percent of oil equivalent reserves; they now
constitute over 90 percent of oil equivalent reserves.
In Australia natural gas reserves are more than three times oil reserves.
Natural gas production in Australia comes from major basins, which include:
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Carnarvon (in northwest Western Australia);
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Gippsland (in the Bass Strait off Victoria's Southeast
coast); and
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Cooper/Eromanga Basins (borders of South
Australia/Queensland). |
See: Australia Map
Natural gas is clean, economical and safe, and in Australia is an abundantly available
form of energy. Natural gas consists mainly of the hydrocarbon methane. Natural gas
provides substantial environmental and economic benefits to Australia.
Natural gas is Australia's fastest growing energy source - accounting for 17.6% of
primary energy use. Natural gas is expected to provide more than 20% of Australia’s
primary energy supply by the year 2000.
Australia is well endowed with energy resources, including substantial demonstrated
reserves of coal, natural gas, uranium and, to a lesser extent, crude oil and LPG. As
well, there are renewable sources such as Hydro-electricity and solar.
Natural gas is Australia's fastest growing energy source.
Over the last 25 years it has become Australia's third largest source of energy after
oil and coal. By the year 2000, it is expected that more than 20 percent of Australia's
primary energy will be supplied by natural gas.
If you look at final energy used, and exclude the transport sector (overwhelmingly
oil-based), then gas supplies are almost a third of Australia's household and industry
energy.
Australian natural gas prices are among the lowest of the OECD countries.
Gas is a major Australian industry which makes an important contribution to economic
development, investment and employment, with:
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LNG exports worth over $1.7
billion (CIF) annually;
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Thousands of people directly
employed but supporting the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Australians working in
industries and businesses which use gas as their main energy form; and
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Annual capital investment in
excess of $1.1 billion for the past five years. |
The amount of money the gas industry will invest in new
field production, pipelines and other infrastructure in the next ten years is equivalent
to holding three Olympic Games.
Conclusion
Natural gas is a valuable Australian energy resource. Its
widespread availability increases energy security for Australia by providing a major fuel
to complement other existing and renewable energy sources.
WHY would any Australian parliamentarian, Federal or State
government representative, even contemplate the IMPORTATION
of natural gas into Australia, given the resources detailed on the maps provided herein?
Data Source:
Australian Natural
Gas Industry
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