Golden chance for gas industry

The House of Representatives this week passed a piece of legislation called the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Bill.

It's a Federal legislative response to the "Golden Rock" discovery accurately reported in this paper on May 16 last year and mirrors legislation which passed the WA Parliament last spring.

It's good when both sides of politics agree. But this is good news particularly for WA. The Golden Rock is part of a newly identified high water feature at Scott and Seringapatam reefs.

The passage of this legislation confirms changes in WA's maritime boundaries.

It means the State Government has a much bigger say in and slice of the Browse Basin gas fields operated by Woodside Energy. This is because the previously unknown "rock outcrops" are in the vicinity of the Torosa gas field in the Browse Basin and the now known rocky outcrops have caused boundaries to be redrawn and legislation to be changed. Offshore boundaries are set by reference to high water, low water, coastline, islands, rocks and the like.

When I was minister for resources two years ago, I was advised that the WA interest in the Browse Basin oil and gas resource was as small as 5 per cent.

Because of the discovery of these rocks near the Torosa gas field, the WA interest is now big. Very big. Perhaps even 50 per cent of the total Browse development. This reflects a new capacity for the WA Government to influence the development of the Browse Basin and for the State to receive a new royalty stream worth between $2.5 and $5 billion over the commercial life of the Browse gas field.

Last year, Geoscience Australia had completed reviewing all of Australia's most seaward features including newly identified features around North Scott Reef in the Browse Basin.

When _The West Australian _reported the appearance of "Golden Rock" on its front page and when Premier Colin Barnett handed Woodside a framed copy of the front page at a dinner last June the significance of the rock was understood, if not embraced by all present.

Some feared it would prevent development of the Browse gas field. You may recall imprudent references to the Browse development in the WA Parliament last year, even a poorly conceived WA parliamentary inquiry into floating LNG.

I advised many people that these rocks, this discovery could be the enabler the Browse Basin oil and gas project needed to win approval from the WA Government and Parliament. So debate about Browse development is no longer about empty rhetoric and politics. It's about decisions - it is "make up your mind" time for the Browse gas operator and the WA Government.

Now it's clear, with the passage of these Bills - achieved with unanimous support on both sides in two Parliaments that we now have a clear WA interest in a good and speedy development of the Browse gas fields.

The fields in question were discovered in 1974 and have not been developed, despite holding substantial reserves of condensate (300 million barrels) and gas (more than 14 trillion cubic feet of gas).

The benefit for WA from development of these fields is clear. The benefit includes very significant amounts of revenue for the State's future fund or education, roads or hospitals, and an abundance of clean energy dense export gas - liquefied of course.

WA, the Kimberley communities and Australia can no longer afford to have the Browse gas stalled.

We need the development, the revenue, the high-tech jobs and the economic activity that come from the very best of modern liquefied natural gas processing. It will generate great jobs that will last 30 to 50 years.

These jobs, the technology, the highly valuable fuel for carbon constrained energy-hungry countries in North Asia can no longer be stalled.

Today, Australia is for the first time in a generation without any greenfield onshore LNG development options. Not one.

This is a perilous situation; as a nation we do not have a single new onshore LNG project, yet we have our future assured for us if we embrace a speedy development in the Browse Basin.

It could support up to three FLNG production facilities.

Unless the Browse partners get cracking soon, the good work of both sides of politics in WA and Canberra will be lost as the North Asian gas market is met by production from East Africa or Russian pipeline gas.

That would be a blow to WA from which the State may not recover.

It would also be an indictment of the decision-makers, both in the joint venture led by Woodside and in the Parliament in WA.

What we need to see is good, thoughtful and purposeful decision-making to drive this great project - developing the Browse gas fields in the interests of WA, the Kimberley communities and Australia.

Gary Gray is the shadow minister for resources and member for Brand