The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) plans to work closely with the Australian Government on any proposed gas market reforms.
Ongoing investment could resolve and fund “the very tax cuts federal parliament is debating,” according to APPEA chief executive Andrew McConville.
He warned that market intervention could “adversely affect confidence in the oil and gas sector,” as well as discourage new market entrants and supply diversity.
“There is enough supply in the market, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator, so we see no need for changes to the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM) at this time,” McConville said.
“The ADGSM is up for a review in 2020 and the gas market transparency work will follow on from Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recommendations recently made public.”
The ADGSM is in place to ensure there is sufficient supply of natural gas to meet the forecast needs of Australia’s energy users.
Billions of dollars of investment has recently been announced in the oil and gas industry to bring more gas into the market, according to McConville.
The Australia Pacific LNG venture announced gas sales deal with manufacturers Orica and Orora last week, adding to the number of new gas agreements announced in the past three years to domestic customers.
There have been announcements from Arrow Energy, Shell Australia, Senex, Cooper Energy, Strike Energy, GLNG and Santos to provide new supply in various parts of eastern Australia.
McConville said rather than intervention measures by government, the best way to put downward pressure on gas prices was more gas from more suppliers.
“More gas supply into the Australian domestic market helps make a significant difference to the millions of homes and thousands of businesses that use gas,” he added.
“Increasing supply should be the focus of government, industry and all Australian businesses that rely on sustainable gas supply.”