Ye auld gas cartel returns for another whinge today:
A looming gas shortfall that threatens to curtail industries and derail Australia’s energy transition is the fault of 10 successive government interventions, the Gina Rinehart-backed Senex Energy has declared, and now the country has little time left to fix the mess.
Australia faces a looming gas shortage which could emerge as soon as next winter, and while there are marginal supply boosts that can be implemented, authorities said the chasm would be impossible to bridge by 2028 without urgent new supplies.
Should new supplies not be brought online, large industries that rely on gas are likely to face a battle for survival and Australia’s energy transition away from coal could be scuppered.
Senex is right. It is Canberra’s fault because it has not regulated firms like Senex.
There is no east coast gas market. It has collapsed into an LNG export cartel that owns 90% of reserves and regularly charges Aussies more for their energy than it does export customers.
The taxpayer boosts this gouging in the form of retail energy bill subsidies.
Senex is right. This is ridiculous. Such market failure demands much more severe intervention if it is to be fixed.
We need more robust domestic gas reservations via the ADGSM with a fixed price of $7Gj, not $12Gj. Or export levies to deliver the same result.
If the cartel refuses to produce, confiscate assets and turn them over to a national gas company under “use it or lose it” rules.
Labor is in power everywhere. This issue is only one of political will and basic competence.
