Beetaloo Basin gas plan takes shape

Tamboran Resources and APA Group have entered into an early development agreement to build a gas pipeline from the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory to Australia’s east coast.

A new pipeline will be built by APA to transport gas from Tamboran’s Beetaloo development in the Northern Territory.

Tamboran Resources and APA Group have entered into an early development agreement to build a gas pipeline from Tamboran’s Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory to Australia’s east coast, with a target for first deliveries in 2028.

The proposed infrastructure, announced on Monday, would have a capacity of approximately 500 million cubic feet per day at minimum and comes as shortfalls in east coast gas supply are predicted in the near future.

The two companies also announced a plan for a new pipeline to connect the Sturt Plateau compression facility to the Amadeus Gas Pipeline.

Tamboran chief executive Joel Riddle says the new east coast pipeline is ‘a major milestone’.

The new Sturt Plateau Pipeline will be approximately 35 kilometres long and will feed the 40m cubic feet a day facility into the Amadeus line, due online in the second half of 2025.

Additionally, a partnering agreement was struck where Tamboran will work exclusively with APA and now has the ability to acquire up to 15 per cent of any Beetaloo pipelines, should certain conditions be met.

Tamboran chief executive officer Joel Riddle said it was “a major milestone to bringing much needed natural gas from the Beetaloo Basin to the Northern Territory and East Coast gas markets. Tamboran and APA have committed to partnering to bring much needed supply to both markets, which are expected to see gas supply shortfalls in coming years.

“Under the agreements, APA will commence early development works associated with the SPP (Sturt Plateau Pipeline) and Beetaloo to east coast gas pipelines, including conditional expenditure of up to $10m to progress early work.

“I believe the development of the Beetaloo Basin, which has potential to supply gas into the domestic market for the duration of the energy transition, has a major role to play in proving (sic) energy security for Australian families. Without local investment in new gas, Australians could be relying on gas imports from other countries at international gas prices.”

Protests were held in Canberra in August against fossil fuel projects in Darwin and the Beetaloo Basin. Picture: Martin Ollman

Tamboran’s Beetaloo Basin development has not been without controversy, with lower-than-expected output reported earlier in the year after having faced significant opposition from the Greens and First Nations groups.

Tamboran shares rose 12.5 per cent to 18c while APA shares slipped 2.4 per cent to $8.67.

The competition regulator last week warned extra gas will need to be transported from Queensland to Australia’s southern states to avoid winter shortfalls for 2024, amid a continuing tight outlook for users on the east coast.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest gas inquiry report forecasts balanced supply and demand next year if Queensland’s LNG producers export all their currently uncontracted gas, or a 71 petajoule surplus if they only export their currently anticipated spot sales. This is down from the 90 PJ surplus forecast in the June report.

The ACCC says while overall the supply of gas in 2024 is forecast to be sufficient across the east coast, LNG producers will need to commit small amounts of additional gas to the domestic market to avoid a shortfall in winter.