Activists concerned as SA government offers South East for gas exploration
The South Australian government has offered land for onshore gas exploration in a move that has angered activists in a key agricultural region.
The government is offering exploration licenses for the Otway Basin in the state's South East and Polda Basin on the Eyre Peninsula.
SA Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the Cooper Basin and parts of the state's west also had the potential for gas extraction.
"We're very keen to try and exploit that as much as we possibly can to try and put downwards pressure on prices and back up our renewable-generation fleet," he said.
But the potential for exploration on the Otway Basin is a cause of concern for activists in the South East, where a 10-year moratorium on fracking will be in place until 2028.
Limestone Coast Protection Alliance chair Angus Ralton, who was part of the initial opposition to fracking, said he was "disappointed" in the direction the government was heading.
"The climate crisis is only accelerating and governments need to be moving away from fossil fuel," he said.
The acreage releases come as the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) projects a shortfall in gas supply for south-east Australia from 2029.
Mr Koutsantonis said renewables were sufficient "90 per cent of the time, even 95 per cent", but gas peaking plants were still needed as back-up.
"Gas is an important fuel for firming our renewable resources by having reliable gas-fired generators," he said.
"The more gas you have in the system, the more industry you have and the more prices drop in the National Electricity Market.
"[The south-east is] an area with existing infrastructure, so it'd be cheaper to restart.
"It's got distribution with the SEA Gas pipeline, which gets us to the Victorian market and the South Australian market, so there's lots going for it."
Australian company Beach Energy mothballed its Katnook processing plant near Penola in 2022.
"While no decisions have been made regarding the South East, Beach holds tenure close to significant infrastructure in the region and the delivery of local gas to market aligns with Beach's vision to become Australia's leading supplier of domestic gas," a Beach spokesperson said.
Mr Koutsantonis said SA farmers were struggling financially in the midst of a drought and that reducing energy prices by increasing gas supply was a way to provide relief.
"The drought's having a real-life impact, especially on farming communities, and a lot of people rely on industry," he said.
Ken Baldwin from the Australian National University said the shortfall required action by the government to secure supply.
"This could come through a number of means — by increasing the amount of gas that is produced in the district, reduce the amount of demand in the region … or to implement a gas reservation policy," he said.
"As we move forward and decarbonise the economy we need to really be focusing on reducing the demand in the first instance and, if all else fails, increase the amount of supply to match the diminishing gas reserves by finding new sources of gas."
Professor Baldwin said there were very few industries that could not switch to electrical forms of energy supply.
"That's a very small fraction of the total demand," he said.
Mr Ralton said the alliance planned to raise its concerns with the state government.
"We would urge the government to reconsider their position … and not take this any further," he said.
Department for Energy and Mining chief executive Paul Martyn said staff had "extensively engaged" with the community.
"We've, I think, got a very good understanding of the community's views," he said.
"We will expect any company that's undertaking exploration in the area to thoroughly engage with the community and to meet the highest standards."
Mr Koutsantonis said community sentiment was taken into account.
"Those activists didn't want fracking, so there'll be no fracking in the South East," he said.
"They argued you can extract gas conventionally — this is exactly what that is."
Mr Koutsantonis said the government considered fracking in the region to be "finished as a concept".
"We have no plans to allow fracking in the South East," he said.
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