Shell has been swamped with interest from gas buyers for the 8 petajoules of gas it has made available for sale under the federal government’s new price-cap rules, sources say, but some small manufacturers are still being forced to pay prices that are twice as high as retailers hold off from offering new contracts.

The disarray in the east coast gas market comes ahead of decisions around controversial rules for the ongoing pricing of the commodity, with gas producers and buyers scrambling to finalise submissions to the government’s consultation process on a mandatory Code of Conduct that will apply after the price caps lapse.