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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Evolution of the east coast gas market

Philip Byrne
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

Santos Ltd, 60 Flinders Street, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia. Email c/o: Kristy.mcgrath@santos.com

The APPEA Journal 58(2) 513-515 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17236
Accepted: 6 April 2018   Published: 28 May 2018

Abstract

This extended abstract reviews how the east coast gas market is managing the major transition from being a ring-fenced domestic market to being part of an interconnected global trading market, and what still needs to be done to rebalance after half a decade of disruption. The east coast gas market has a great future ahead of it, but only if Australia acts quickly to open up access to new gas supply sources as existing gas fields mature and decline. The presence of a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply market on the east coast now provides an incentive for gas producers to invest in new provinces and new plays at a scale the domestic gas market could not have supported on its own. This can only be good for competition in the east coast gas market over the medium to long term, and potentially open up enormous supplies for the growth of Australian industry, akin to the US shale gas revolution. To make the most of the resources and infrastructure we now have on the eastern seaboard, there is a role for governments to play in ensuring access to resources and providing stable, coordinated, robust energy policy and regulatory frameworks that attract investment in further growth in the gas sector, the benefits of which will flow on to Australian industry more generally.

Keywords: east coast, gas, government, liquefied natural gas, LNG, Santos.

Philip Byrne (MA, MSc, DIC) is the Executive Vice President Marketing and Trading at Santos. Philip joined Santos in August 2017 and has responsibility for the marketing and trading of all Santos gas, LNG and liquid hydrocarbon products. Philip has over 35 years’ experience in the international oil and gas industry, starting his career as a petroleum geologist in the North Sea. He subsequently spent 14 years with the BG Group in senior commercial and exploration leadership roles in the UK, Europe, Tunisia and India. Philip spent a further 7 years with BHP Petroleum, including as General Manager Pakistan, President Gas Marketing Asia/Australia and Country Manager Petroleum Australia. Philip was then seconded as President of the North West Shelf Australia LNG organisation, which is the marketing arm of the North West Shelf LNG project. Most recently, Philip was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nido Petroleum, an Australian Stock Exchange-listed company with oil production and exploration acreage in the Philippines.


References

DIIS (2017) Heads of Agreement The Australian East Coast Domestic Gas Supply Commitment. (Department of Industry, Innovation and Science) Available at: https://industry.gov.au/resource/UpstreamPetroleum/AustralianLiquefiedNaturalGas/Documents/Heads-of-Agreement-The-Australian-East-Coast-Domestic-Gas-Supply.pdf [verified 9 April 2018].

Macdonald-Smith, A. and Potter, B. (7 March 2017). East coast gas shortages to hit this winter. Australian Financial Review. Available at http://www.afr.com/business/energy/gas/east-coast-gas-shortages-to-hit-this-winter-20170307-guso4s#ixzz5Bqxo477K [verified 6 April 2018].

Woods, B. (2018). Evolving Santos’ onshore execution and production business to unlock value and growth through the commodity cycles. The APPEA Journal 58, .
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