Less than 7 per cent of gas sold on the east coast may be subject to the Albanese government’s price caps, meaning the much-vaunted policy may do little to rein in prices for consumers despite having already done irreversible damage to investment confidence.

The calculation from Credit Suisse analysts comes ahead of the release expected as early as Thursday of the text of Labor’s mandatory Code of Conduct on gas, which will include the rules on exemptions to the wholesale price cap of $12 a gigajoule.