Australian government to fund Queensland gas
The Australian government will provide A$20.7mn ($15mn) in funding to unlock gas potential in the North Bowen and Galilee basins in Queensland, it said on September 23.
The funding is part of the federal government’s gas-led recovery plan and includes A$15.7mn for gas field trials including drilling programmes to prove the region’s potential; and A$5mn for studies to support the development of a new gas pipeline to the region, co-funded by the Queensland government.
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“The plan supports industry to develop the region’s major gas resources and is the second to be delivered under the government’s Strategic Basins Plan Programme,” Australian resources minister Keith Pitt said. “The North Bowen and Galilee basins are estimated to hold enough gas to meet Australia’s east coast needs for over a decade. The new plan will support industry to overcome the specific challenges of developing these resources.”
The minister added that the plan will benefit from initiatives including A$14mn for Geoscience Australia and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to deliver better data about baseline conditions across each of the government’s priority strategic basin regions; A$13.7mn to continue research under the CSIRO’s GISERA (Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance); and more than A$370mn for various road upgrades to support supply chains, trade and project construction, through the Northern Australia Roads programme, Roads of Strategic Importance initiative and the Regional Economic Enabling Fund.
Minister Pitt said the government is working in partnership with state and local governments, industry, communities and the University of Queensland, to unlock the potential of the basins.
The Government earlier this year released a strategic plan for the Beetaloo basin in the Northern Territory and has begun work on the next strategic plan for the Cooper and Adavale basins spanning Queensland and South Australia.