‘Back to the Future’ A review of Australian reservation and other natural gas export control policies
James PlumbCarter Newell Lawyers, GPO Box 2232, Brisbane, Qld 4001, Australia. Email: jplumb@carternewell.com.
The APPEA Journal 59(2) 505-512 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18282
Accepted: 19 March 2019 Published: 17 June 2019
Abstract
Despite record levels of domestic production, forecasters are predicting that the east coast Australian gas market will remain tight in 2019. The introduction of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM) by the Federal Government in 2017, and the proposal announced by the Australian Labour Party (ALP) to bolster the mechanism, have again thrust the issue of political intervention in the export gas market into sharp focus. This paper provides an overview of the current regulatory intervention at the state and federal level, and looks back at the history of controls imposed upon the Australian gas export market. The paper is divided into two parts: Part 1, which looks at current regulatory controls engaged by various State and Federal governments: (a) the development and implementation of the ADGSM; (b) the development and implementation of the Queensland Government’s Prospective Gas Production Land Reserve policy (PGPLR); and (c) the Government of Western Australia’s (WA Government) domestic gas policy. The paper also reviews policy announcements made by the ALP in the lead up to the 2019 Federal election. Part 2 provides a broad overview of the history of controls on gas exports in Australia, from the embargo on exports from the North West Shelf between 1973 and 1977, through the increasing liberalisation of Australian energy policy during the 1980s and 1990s (and the associated conflict with state concerns of ensuring sufficiency of the domestic supply of gas), up to the removal of federal controls on resources exports (including liquefied natural gas) in 1997.
Keywords: Australian domestic gas security mechanism, Customs Act 1901, domestic reservation, export controls, national interest test, prospective gas production land reserve policy, security of gas supply, WA domestic gas policy.
James is a Partner at Carter Newell Lawyers, where he leads the Energy and Resources practice group. James advises companies in the oil and gas and mining industries on all matters associated with their projects, with particular specialisation in matters associated with project acquisitions and divestments, joint ventures, commodity sales and associated transportation arrangements. James is the current Chair of the Queensland Law Society’s Mining and Resources Law Committee, a member of the Queensland branch of AMPLA Limited, a past President of QUPEX Inc. and a member of the Queensland Resources Council’s Exploration and Tenure workgroup. James is recognised as a leading Queensland Energy and Resources Lawyer by Doyles Guide and Best Lawyers. |
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