Australia will face a gas shortage in 2023, according to a report published on Monday by the oceanic country’s regulator, which urged the Canberra Executive to intervene in the export market to avoid “substantial” risks to energy security.
The report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) indicated that although “Australia is a country with relatively abundant gas resources”, its east coast, where more than half of the population experiences a gas supply deficit of 56 petajoules in 2023.
This figure, which if confirmed will mean the highest deficit since 2017 and is equivalent to around 10 percent of domestic demand“represents a significant deterioration of conditions in relation to the forecast for 2022 (when a shortage of 2 petajoules was calculated)”, the report points out.
In the report, the ACCC expressed concern about the high level of concentration in the energy market in Australia, with exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) controlling almost 90% of the proven and probable reserves on the east coast of the country in 2021.
For this reason, the regulator urged the Canberra Executive to activate the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM), an emergency legal device that allows the Minister of Resources to intervene directly in the market and limit exports to ensure market supply. domestic.
“The outlook for the gas market on the East Coast has worsened considerably,” ACCC President Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in a statement.
According to ACCC, the East Coast will produce some 1,981 petajoules of gas in 2023, of which 65.6 percent will be exported under existing long-term contracts.
LNG exporters are expected to produce 167 peta joules above what is required by their contractual commitments, added the ACCC statement, noting that if this surplus is directed to foreign destinations, there will be a gas shortage of 56 peta joules in the Australian east coast.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com