AEMO declares gas emergency

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We interrupt your regular programming of nuclear balderdash with the newsflash that:

Australia’s energy market operator has convened an emergency meeting of the gas industry after warning fuel supplies are running tight and without urgent action there could be insufficient reserves for the rest of winter.

The alert underscores Australia’s tight gas supplies, which could send electricity bills higher and heighten concerns around the viability of the country’s manufacturing sector, which dependent on gas for its operations.

The Australian Energy Market Operator on Wednesday sent a note to Australia’s gas industry, warning the market has tightened substantially amid supply disruptions from a major source that has caused a depletion of reserves from a major stockpile.

…An industry response could include Queensland producers and shippers delivering gas to users in the southern states.

Victorian spot gas hit $28Gj this morning, 142% above Albo’s ludicrous $12Gj gas price cap, and 930% above historical average prices.

There is still no ADGSM in sight. Nor any appearance from Resources Minister Mad King:

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And herein is the lesson. If you don’t reserve enough gas for yourself, then any and every supply disruption is another shock and crisis.

This is the ONLY problem in the Australian energy transition.

It is NOT renewables.

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It is NOT nuclear.

It is the East Coast gas export cartel that siphons so much gas to China that we are constantly left in crisis and shock, meaning there is never security of supply for firming power.

Now, back to your regular program of renewables versus nuclear false binary and national destruction.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.