Industry News

The Albanese Government is partnering with States and Territories to shield Australian families and businesses from the worst impacts of predicted energy price spikes.

The Government’s Energy Price Relief Plan will:

1. Take action to limit gas prices.
2. Take action to limit coal prices.
3. Provide targeted energy bill relief for households and businesses.
4. Invest in cleaner, cheaper, more reliable energy for the future.

We are experiencing sustained and unprecedented pressure on global energy markets. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is pushing energy prices to historic highs all over the world.

In Australia, that’s made worse by nearly a decade of division, inaction and policy uncertainty on climate and energy under the Liberals and Nationals.

The urgent action we are taking with the Energy Price Relief Plan will shield Australians from the worst impacts of price increases, delivering responsible and targeted relief to families, small businesses and manufacturers.

The plan is responsible, targeted and temporary.

It is designed to provide all Australians with a buffer in unprecedented times.

This coordinated national approach continues the Albanese Government’s strong record of working constructively with States and Territories to address problems facing all Australians. It ensures that jurisdictions play their critical role in easing energy market pressures.

In today’s meeting of National Cabinet, the Prime Minister and First Ministers agreed to:

Temporary cap on the price of gas and other measures

Tackling high gas prices by the Commonwealth introducing a 12-month emergency gas price cap, to be set at $12 per gigajoule on new wholesale gas sales by east coast producers subject to consultation; introducing a mandatory code of conduct for the wholesale gas market that includes a reasonable pricing provision, accelerating the introduction of the AGDSM; and boosting resources for the ACCC for implementation, monitoring and enforcement.

Temporary cap on the price of coal

The New South Wales and Queensland Governments are taking action by effectively setting ceilings for the price of coal used for electricity generation to $125 a tonne, with the Commonwealth to contribute to costs.

Impact of these actions

The reality is that due to global circumstances and a decade of energy policy mismanagement, Australians will continue to still see high energy prices for some time.

The average family would be $230 worse off next year if we do not take action with the Energy Price Relief Plan.

Combined, these gas and coal measures are estimated to:

• Dampen predicted gas price increases by two percentage points in 2022-23 and 16 percentage points in 2023-24.
• Reduce the impact of forecast electricity price increases of 36 per cent in 2023-24 by 13 percentage points, preventing a $230 increase that the average Australian household would have seen if these actions were not taken.
• Reduce expected inflation in 2023-24 by around an estimated half percentage point.

Targeted Energy Bill Assistance

The Commonwealth Government will partner with States and Territories to deliver targeted and temporary relief on power bills to eligible Australian households and small businesses that are customers of electricity retailers.

The Commonwealth will establish an Energy Bill Relief Fund with up to $1.5 billion to deliver relief directly to electricity bills.

Commonwealth support will be contingent on the relevant State or Territory matching funding on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

This targeted and temporary support will provide hundreds of dollars of additional bill relief to eligible Australian families and small businesses and help shield them from the worst impacts of rising global energy prices.

National Cabinet agreed to finalise the design and delivery of the energy bill relief based on the following principles:

• Bill relief will be jointly funded between the Commonwealth and relevant State or Territory on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
• Contributions will constitute additional support above and beyond any existing or announced schemes.
• Bill relief will be targeted to households receiving income support, pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders, Family Tax Benefit A and B recipients and to small business customers of electricity retailers.
• Relief be provided as a credit directly on recipients’ power bills.

It is expected that the final details and funding arrangements will be settled by National Cabinet by March 2023.

Investing for a renewable future

Beyond these immediate measures, the Prime Minister and First Ministers reinforced the commitment made by Energy Ministers at the meeting of 8 December, to implement the long overdue Capacity Investment Scheme.

This Scheme will unlock around $10 billion of private and public sector investment in clean, dispatchable storage and generation to ensure reliable and affordable electricity supply and reduce our exposure to high coal and gas prices over the medium and long term.

Over nine years of denial and delay under the previous government, Australia’s National Energy Market saw a decline of 3GW of dispatchable power, or enough to power over two million homes.

Firmed renewables are the cheapest form of energy. The current coal and gas price crisis makes that reality even more stark. Rewiring the Nation and the Capacity Investment Scheme will drive investment in Australia’s future as a renewable energy superpower.

Governments around the country are working together to provide relief to families, businesses, and manufacturers, along with longer term measures that increase capacity and reliability for renewable energy.

The Albanese Government will always stand up for Australian families, workers and businesses, and the Energy Price Relief Plan will do just that.

Quotes attributable to Prime Minister Albanese:

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. We are taking urgent action to shield Australian families and businesses from the worst of these energy price spikes.

“We are working hand-in-hand with our State and Territory partners to find the best outcomes for all Australians; keeping Australians in work, keeping industry going, and making sure that families and businesses can pay their bills.”

Source: pm.gov.au

Today the Chief Minister took part in National Cabinet virtually to express the views of all Territorians.

High on the agenda was the issue of power of prices, along with discussions regarding health and disaster recovery.

Here in the Territory we are in a good position. We have government owned corporations – meaning our power prices will not go above CPI. Assisting Territorians with the cost of living is the Territory Governments main objective, this is why power is already subsided by $120 million. 

Today, it was discussed that the Federal Government will be providing $1.5 billion through the Energy Price Relief Plan that will provide targeted relief to jurisdictions and consumers.

National Cabinet also decided that the Commonwealth will contribute $100 million towards primary care models which will reduce pressures on hospital emergency departments.

Emergency resilience was also discussed, where it was decided that each jurisdiction will work on disaster and climate risk planning to protect Australians from extreme weather events.

Quotes from Chief Minister, Natasha Fyles:

“Today at National Cabinet we discussed a wide range of topics which will bring positive outcomes for Territorians. This includes funding to ease hospital pressures, and more planning to minimise emergency weather impacts.

“The Territory Labor Government is focused on economic growth to provide jobs for Territorians and ease the cost of living pressures, this is why we already provide a community service obligation of $120 million which in turn creates cheaper power prices for Territorians.

“Here in the Territory we are not facing the same power prices issues as other States and Territories because we have Government owned Corporations, which the CLP would have sold.”

Natasha Fyles
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Source: NT Government Newsroom

BEETALOO Basin focused Empire Energy has begun fraccing operations at its recently drilled Carpentaria-3 horizontal well.

Empire plans to stimulate up to 40 stages across 2000 metres of the horizontal section of the well. 

It will be the biggest frac in Australia. 

Empire said it will be double the size of work undertaken at the earlier Carpentaria-2H well which was stimulated across 21 stages across 927 metres. 

It is also somewhat cheaper after Empire took learnings from earlier wells and applied them across its current operations. 

Total cost for drilling the well is $10 million, below the previously budgeted $12.3 million. 

"It is encouraging that our operations team is driving significant cost efficiencies already, and this program will not only provide us with more flow rates from the Carpentaria-3H well in the new year, but also critical insights into how to further enhance gas flow productivity," Empire managing director Alex Underwood said. 

In parallel to this, Empire has commenced flow testing at the Carpentaria-2H well and installed a production logging tool to gain detailed data on flow rates from each of the 21 frac stages. 

Its fourth well, Carpentaria-4 is due to be spud next week. 

Carpentaria-4 is a vertical exploration well aimed at proving the target Velkerri shales stretch across Empire's permit. 

The previous wells have all focused on the west of Exploration Permit 187. Carpentaria-4 will be drilled in the east.

Empire is hopeful the well intersects gas and results in a material increase in resources. 

Empire shares were up 2.6% at 19.5 cents. The company had a market cap of $147 million. 

Source: Energy News Bulletin

Empire Energy Group Limited is pleased to provide shareholders with an update regarding its operations in the Beetaloo Sub-basin. 

Comments from Managing Director Alex Underwood:

"Empire is executing its 2022 Beetaloo appraisal program, the most active in the history of the Beetaloo Sub-basin, to accelerate the company into commercial production as soon as possible. Gas shortages are causing serious economic strain on the Australian economy, and the only way to bring down prices sustainably is to increase supply. We believe that Empire’s Beetaloo gas can play a major role in solving this enduring challenge.

It is encouraging that our operations team is driving significant cost efficiencies already, and this program will not only provide us with more flow rates from C-3H in the new year, but also critical insights into how to further enhance gas flow productivity.

We look forward to sharing drilling, stimulation, and flow test results in the coming weeks.”

Please click here to read the full announcement released today.  

Hydraulic Fracturing Implementation Progress Update May to November 2022

The Inquiry made 135 recommendations, three of which were separated to assist implementation planning, resulting in 138 recommendations to be reported on.

This progress update provides detail on the status of implementation from 1 May 2022 to 11 November 2022.

As at 11 November 2022, 103 of the 138 recommendations are completed. Updates to the implementation status of individual recommendations can be found on the Onshore Gas website by clicking on the relevant recommendations.

Highlights from the progress achieved in this reporting period are summarised on the Onshore Gas website and include:

• Strategic Regional Environmental Baseline Assessment (SREBA)
• Regulation and assessment
• Completing implementation of recommendations.

Independent Oversight Progress Update

The Independent Overseer continues to provide the Chief Minister and NT Government with independent advice on how the implementation of the recommendations from the Inquiry is progressing and being managed. The nature of this role requires the Independent Overseer to remain at arms-length from day-to-day decisions and processes relating to implementation.

Dr David Ritchie has provided comment on the progress of implementation outlined in the latest progress update.

Read Dr Ritchie’s full advice

What’s next?

All remaining recommendations are in progress and expected to be implemented by the end of year. In early 2023, the NT Government will carefully consider the actions taken to implement all Inquiry recommendations and will need to be satisfied that the risks identified by the Inquiry have been sufficiently mitigated.

Want to find out more?

To keep up to date with the status of implementation of each recommendation, sign up for regular updates on the website: hydraulicfracturing.nt.gov.au/contact or by email: hydraulic.fracturing@nt.gov.au

Please direct all correspondence to:
Hydraulic Fracturing Inquiry Implementation Taskforce
GPO Box 4396, Darwin NT 0801
T 08 8999 6573
E hydraulic.fracturing@nt.gov.au
W hydraulicfracturing.nt.gov.au

Santos notes the decision by the Full Federal Court today to dismiss the appeal from Justice Bromberg’s decision in September, which set aside NOPSEMA’s approval of the Barossa Gas Project’s Drilling Environment Plan (Plan).

Santos has consulted with Traditional Owners and their representative bodies on the Barossa Gas Project since 2016 and will continue to do so, taking into account the guidance provided by the Court.

With a range of cultural heritage and native title agreements across 23 Traditional Owner Groups and six Land Councils around Australia, Santos has a strong track record of working constructively and collaboratively with Traditional Owners.

Santos has always sought to meet its consultation responsibilities and is continuing the process of revising the Drilling Environment Plan to address the matters contained in the judgement.

Further, Santos will now proceed with applications for all remaining approvals in accordance with the guidance provided by the Court.

As a result, Santos does not anticipate any material cost or schedule impact, and first gas from the Barossa Gas Project remains on track to be delivered in the first half of 2025.

Source: Santos

The Territory Labor Government has successfully delivered legislation to guide development of the onshore shale gas industry, in line with the 135 recommendations from the ‘Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory’ (Pepper Inquiry).

Today, the Petroleum Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 passed in parliament, satisfying 13 of the relevant 135 recommendations.  

These include empowering the community through key decision making process, mandatory insurance requirements for all petroleum interests and enabling a more rigorous legislative framework that provides a strong deterrent for non compliance.

Quotes from Minister for Mining and Industry Nicole Manison:

“The Territory Labor Government is continuing to deliver upon its commitment to implement all 135 recommendations of the Pepper Inquiry.

These laws address 13 of the 135 critical recommendations to make onshore shale gas development in the Northern Territory not only sustainable, but world class and best practice.

Gas will play a critical role in the renewable energy transition as we move toward a greener future, and will be crucial for the Territory economy and local jobs.

Government has collaborated with the Territory’s Land Councils to strengthen consent provisions in the legislation. Traditional Owner consent is non-negotiable, and exploration or production cannot and will not proceed without it.”

Nicole Manison
Minister for Mining and Industry

Source: NT Government Newsroom

Tamboran Resources releases Sustainability Plan

Highlights

• Tamboran Resources has released its 2022 Sustainability Plan, outlining the Company’s vision for playing a part in the global transition to a low carbon economy through production of low-CO2 natural gas.

• Tamboran recognises that operating sustainably is not only relevant to the Company’s impact on the environment and local communities, but also vital to generating long term value for stakeholders.

Tamboran Resources Limited (ASX: TBN) Managing Director and CEO, Joel Riddle, said:

“We are pleased to share our 2022 Sustainability Plan. We aspire to play a part in the global transition to a lower carbon, more sustainable future and look forward to progressing the development of our Net Zero natural gas resources in the Beetaloo Basin.

“Tamboran remains absolutely committed to operating sustainably. We intend to continue to build on the deep relationships with Traditional Owners, pastoralists, other local stakeholders and the Northern Territory Government that have been fostered by Origin in the Beetaloo over its substantial, multi-year exploration and appraisal program.”

To read the full release, click here

Aboriginal community engagement and information update

Principles of engagement

The Principles of Engagement when using Aboriginal Interpreters (the Principles) are a guide for undertaking consultation with Aboriginal people where English is not a first language. The Principles were developed in accordance with recommendation 11.5 from the Final Report of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory, which states:

That interpreters be used at all consultations with Aboriginal people for whom English is a second language. Interpreters must be appropriately supported to ensure that they understand the subject matter of the consultation.

The Principles emphasise the importance of using interpreters when explaining complex scientific matters and recognise the significance of respecting community and culture when consulting with Aboriginal people. The Principles aim to promote consistent, effective and accountable engagement with Aboriginal people through working together.

The Principles are available for download at the Onshore Gas website.

Information in Aboriginal languages

Audio files about groundwater, methane and shale gas are available to use when engaging with Aboriginal people across the Territory regarding shale gas development and hydraulic fracturing.

The audio files are available for download at the Onshore Gas website in the following languages:

• Anindilyakwa
• Anmatyerr
• Burarra
• Eastern Central    Arrernte
• Eastside Kriol
• Kunwinjku
• Maung
• Murrinh-Patha
• Ngarinyman
• Pintupu-Luritja
• Pitjantjatjara
• Tiwi
• Warlpiri
• Warumungu
• Western    Arrernte
• Westside Kriol
• Yolngu Matha
• English.

Audio files in Alyawarr will be produced and made available when finalised.

Community Engagement and Information Program

The latest Annual Delivery Plan for the Community Engagement and Information Program was recently signed by NT Government and CSIRO with Ethics Clearance also achieved through the CSIRO process. This Program will provide reliable, accessible, trusted and accurate information to communities potentially affected by shale gas development and hydraulic fracturing in the future.

Resources arising from ongoing consultations with communities will be developed through the Community Engagement and Information Program and made available.

The Territory Labor Government has taken another major step forward in modernising the Northern Territory’s environmental protection laws.

Amendments passed today in parliament, incorporate chain of responsibility (CoR) provisions into the NT’s environmental regulatory framework for onshore gas.

CoR laws protect taxpayers from inheriting the cost of cleaning up environmental damage by ensuring that accountability can be passed along corporate structures. It allows for “related parties” to be compelled to manage and rehabilitate sites operated by companies experiencing financial difficulties.

Adoption of a CoR law is also important to implement recommendation 14.30 of the independent ‘Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory’ (Pepper Inquiry) which states that:

“prior to the grant of any further production approvals, the Government enacts provisions establishing a chain of responsibility for gas companies and related parties to ensure compliance with environmental obligations”.

The Territory Labor Government is continuing to deliver all 135 recommendations of the Pepper Inquiry.

Quotes from Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security, Lauren Moss:

“This Territory Labor Government knows that protecting our environment is a critical part of ensuring future generations of Territorians will also have the opportunity to experience our unique way of life.

“We can do this while providing for the sustainable economic development that is essential to grow our economy, provide future jobs, and support the wellbeing of those who call the NT home.

“We believe in the science, we believe in protecting our cultural and ecological values, and we believe in creating compliance frameworks that will work to protect the interests of all Territorians.”

Lauren Moss
Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security

Media Release: NT Government Newsroom