Still no solution for rising gas prices

Advertisement
imgres

By Leith van Onselen

Another article appeared in the Weekend AFR arguing that New South Wales faces big job losses if gas prices are allowed to rise on the back of LNG exports from Queensland:

…western Sydney will bear the brunt of expected shortages in natural gas in NSW that are predicted in just over two years, resulting in job losses and higher energy bills…

NSW has big gas purchase contracts rolling off in the next few years…

Food producers, large manufacturers and industry groups have all been warning of the escalating risks to companies and jobs because of a pending gas supply crisis in NSW, which produces only about 5 per cent of its gas requirements, relying on other states for the rest…

“A lot of businesses are simply not going to be able to afford to pay the higher prices, let alone deal with supply shortfalls.”

Wholesale gas prices, which historically have been about $3 a gigajoule, have surged above $8 in recent contracts. Some analysts are advising prices could spike to $12 in the next few years before likely softening again to below $10.

The solution, according to AGL, is to boost the supply of unconventional (coal seam) gas in New South Wales, so that supply can catch-up to demand, which is expected to triple on the East Coast as the Gladstone LNG export plants come on line.

Advertisement

Similar arguments were on display from The Australian’s Judith Sloan (also a former director of Santos Ltd and Woodside), who blames opposition to coal seam gas in New South Wales for making gas costlier:

…if the supply of new gas reserves is constrained, then the price will rise.

…when these tame economists claim there is a world price for gas, that demand for gas is effectively limitless and the supply curve is perfectly elastic, they are talking through their hats…

…how do these apologists for the green movement explain the fact the price of gas in the US has fallen from $10 per 1000 cubic feet to less than $3?

That would be because of fracking and the dramatic increase in the exploitation of unconventional gas. More supply has driven lower prices — the basic laws of economics have not been suspended…

NSW, in particular, is facing a monumental shortage of gas, with close to 95 per cent of supplies coming from interstate. The domestic price of gas will go up and up and there is very little that can be done in the short term…

Increasing the supply of gas would mean lower domestic prices…

In the meantime, we can only observe with a sense of envy the developments in the US, where the price of gas has fallen by two-third.

Unfortunately, there are holes in Sloan’s argument.

Advertisement

First, comparisons with the US aren’t valid. The US is primarily a domestic market, whereas Australia’s gas market will soon become linked to the global market, requiring us to pay global prices (less the cost of liquefaction and shipping). In the US, unlike Australia, significant export restrictions on domestic gas exist. The Natural Gas Act 1938 requires anyone who wants to import or export natural gas, including LNG from or to a foreign country, to first obtain an authorisation from the Department of Energy. The granting of export licenses are only a recent phenomenon, so the US gas price is not yet linked to the world market (although this will gradually change as LNG export plants are built).

Accordingly, the huge positive supply shock from the shale gas boom has directly benefited domestic US gas users via lower prices, whereas if a similar coal seam gas (CGS) boom occurred in New South Wales or Victoria, chances are that much of the gas would be exported, therefore domestic gas prices would not be lowered to anywhere near the same extent as in the US (although it would likely provide some marginal downward pressure on prices).

Second, there is the broader debate over the efficacy of fracking the countryside in the pursuit of CSG. The process of fracking is highly controversial as it risks contaminating nearby water tables with both methane and poisonous fracking fluid, potentially destroying farmland in the process. Such concerns are real and cannot simply be swept aside as environmental hysteria.

Without a domestic gas reservation policy, or better mechanisms to capture rents from exporting Australia’s limited supply of gas, the resulting shortages, higher prices, and loss of domestic competitiveness could very well trump the domestic benefits from LNG exports, whereby the majority of profits flow offshore.

Advertisement

[email protected]

www.twitter.com/Leithvo

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.