Having provided a detailed submission and public hearing evidence to the WA Economics and Industry Standing Committee Inquiry, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA (CME) has acknowledged today's release of the Committee's final report on the WA Domestic Gas (DomGas) Policy.
The report contains 77 findings and 30 recommendations to the State Government, including that the WA Domestic Gas Policy as a whole is reviewed and updated, and that a new domestic gas security policy objective is developed.
CME Chief Executive Officer, Rebecca Tomkinson, said the report's recommendations needed careful consideration by the State Government to ensure WA had the right balance of policy and regulatory settings to support decarbonisation efforts locally and globally.
"It's clear from the report that WA faces a major challenge: increasing demand for gas but declining supply over the next decade," Ms Tomkinson said.
"Based on current LNG producer commitments and delivery timeframes, the risk of domestic gas under-supply will be more of an energy security and availability issue than a compliance one.
"The challenge for the WA resources sector is in supporting the decarbonisation of our domestic energy-intensive industries, while also providing secure and affordable sources of energy to our trading partners.
Ms Tomkinson added that, throughout the Inquiry, CME had advocated for investment certainty on the 15 per cent reservation policy, as well as greater clarity and transparency around the application of the policy's requirements on projects, including associated compliance measures.
"With gas demand expected to grow in the WA domestic market over the next decade it's good to see the report advocate for maintaining the existing 15 per cent reservation amount for existing agreements for offshore projects," she said.
"But the recommendation to set an 'as necessary' reservation amount for new projects is as concerning as it is ambiguous, and likely to introduce investment uncertainty.
"Any changes to policy settings must balance the needs of both gas consumers and producers for investment certainty and market efficiency."
