Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — The South Australian (SA) Labor government plans to remove a 2018 ban on fracking for oil and gas in the South East region, a prime agricultural province, two years ahead of the law’s expiry.
The 10-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing — a technique that involves injecting high-pressure fluid into underground rock to release oil and gas — was imposed on the region in November 2018 by a previous Liberal government to protect water resources. South Australia shares the onshore Otway basin with neighbouring Victoria.
But SA allowed fracking to continue in the state’s other major oil and gas region, the Cooper basin, where Australian independent Santos operates the 250 TJ/d Moomba gas plant. More than 1,300 wells have been fracked in the Cooper basin since 1969 without impacts on aquifers, the state government said on 14 May.
The Energy Resources (Regulated Activities) Amendment Bill will be introduced to parliament next week. It would have to pass the state’s upper chamber of parliament, the Legislative Council — where Labor does not hold a majority — in order to end the moratorium early.
The opposition Liberal party has called for consultation and said that, while it supports increased gas production, the region has a different environmental and economic context to Moomba.
The Liberals and South Australian Greens are unlikely to support the proposed legislation, meaning Labor would need the support of the far-right One Nation party, which won a historic three seats in the 22-member chamber in the March poll.
One Nation has called for a pro-drilling policies, but the party recently won the state seat of MacKillop in the South East, centred on the agricultural towns of Naracoorte, Millicent and Bordertown where community opinion largely opposes gas fracking.
Australian independent Beach Energy, the largest acreage holder in the region, welcomed the move, saying it created future options for the safe and responsible development of the SA Otway basin.
The South East region hosts the 10 TJ/d (267,000 m³/d) Katnook gas plant in the Penola district, owned by Beach since 2011. The facility, connected to the 314 TJ/d SEA Gas pipeline, was mothballed between July-September 2022 as available reserves proved insufficient to run the plant.
Any moves to restart Katnook would not require fracking to produce initial feedstock, Beach said. But an early expiration of the moratorium would raise investment confidence in greater exploration to sustain medium term production over the years to come.
By Tom Major
