Via the AFR:
Malcolm Turnbull has indicated the government will pull the trigger to enforce limits on east coast gas exports and try to direct more to domestic supply, prompting howls of protest from the LNG giants and warnings about sovereign risk.
A day after Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims warned the government may soon have to choose between market interference or saving manufacturing jobs, the Prime Minister indicated the decision to act had effectively been made.
The government was awaiting reports from the ACCC and the Australian Energy Market Operator for guidance on the scale of the restrictions.
Oil and gas industry spokesman Malcolm Roberts said triggering the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism would represent an escalation of sovereign risk in Australia, which has already been affected by the introduction of the policy.”This is a big step for the government to take.”
Sure there’s sovereign risk but that’s just going to have to take a back seat to risk to the sovereign. If the gas firms thought that charging double for our own gas here that they sell it for overseas was a sustainable business model then I suggest a psychiatrist.
Bravo Do-nothing. Make your targets severe and prepare a lot of more public intervention to break the cartel.
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