ACCC puts gas companies on notice as PM gets gas supply guarantee

THE nation’s competition watchdog has put energy giants on notice they will be closely monitored to prevent price gouging after the Turnbull government yesterday signed a deal with the big firms to avert a looming energy crisis.

• Australia in the grip of energy crisis

THE nation’s competition watchdog has put energy giants on notice they will be closely monitored to prevent price gouging after the Turnbull government yesterday signed a deal with the big firms to avert a looming energy crisis.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission boss Rod Sims told The Daily Telegraph the deal, signed yesterday after a week of neg­otiations, was “extremely wel­come because it would make a contribution to addressing what is a pretty dreadful problem out there”.

“The ACCC will have a big role monitoring how all of this goes, and we’ll be looking to see if companies that want gas get multiple offer of gas and that it is a reasonable price,” Mr Sims said. “That reasonable price is based on what the ­effective international price is and making sure retail margins are appropriate and pipeline costs are appropriate.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with the chief executives of the three major gas exporters.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday led the meeting between his senior colleagues and the chief executives of three major gas exporters, in which the companies signed a deal to guarantee about $925 million in gas, to Victoria, Queensland and NSW in the next year.

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The companies will also have to report more details on transactions to the ACCC after concerns they were not selling to local manufacturers, causing prices to spike and uncertainty in employment.

The meeting, which was scheduled to run for 90 minutes, concluded in an hour ­instead with the signing of the agreement.

Chairman of Shell Australia Zoe Yujnovich. Picture: AAP

Speaking alongside Treasurer Scott Morrison, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Mr Turnbull said the deal was “vitally important to (ensuring) Australian jobs and to ensuring Australians have affordable and reliable energy”.

But Shell Australia boss Zoe Yujnovich said there had been “some difficult and tense ­moments”. A preliminary deal had been agreed to last Tuesday.

Australian Industry group chief executive Innes Willox said the agreement “should help  avoid the looming ­supply crunch we’ve feared — for now”.

“However, there are two big questions from here: will we make the most of this opportunity to secure the market for the longer-term, including by reforming state gas moratoria, and will prices fall to export parity quickly,” he said.

Labor’s acting energy spokesman Jason Clare has accused the PM of not halving gas prices as promised.

But Labor’s acting energy spokesman Jason Clare said Mr Turnbull had said he ­wanted to halve gas prices six months ago, but that had not happened. “The gas export mechanism was supposed to be the way to cut gas prices in half,” Mr Clare said.

“(He) has ­decided to rely on the assurances of the gas companies instead. ”