The great gas schmozzle continues.
The government has sought to balance domestic gas supply pressures with the interests of Australia’s multibillion-dollar gas industry and the nation’s major overseas trading partners, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and China, which are major consumers of locally produced LNG. Following consultations in Australia and overseas, the government has agreed to certain concessions to keep the domestic surplus “modest” while reassuring Asian customers that their long-term contracts will be honoured.
Among the recently announced changes is the possibility of lowering the reservation level when forecast domestic demand is weak, while also giving ministers the discretion to reduce how much gas each producer must supply the local market when they are constrained by pre-existing contracts and pipeline capacity.
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