Roger Cook firms on WA gas for WA amidst global energy turmoil

WA Premier Roger Cook has all but closed the door on easing his ban on exporting onshore gas as turmoil in global oil and gas markets shows the benefits of local supply.

The WA Government has prohibited the export of onshore gas from 2031, but Boiling Cold understands some producers have been ferociously lobbying for significant exemptions.

Cook launched a pitch to sell WA as a "state of energy" on Tuesday - based on renewable energy firming by batteries and gas, providing affordable and secure power - which needs a continued supply of gas to be a success.

"The opportunity for the energy to transition to provide energy independence for Western Australia ... to become less reliant on others, less susceptible to global shocks, to stand on our own two feet," was the aim, he told the Energy Exchange Australia conference.

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When asked by Boiling Cold whether the push for energy independence makes exemptions from the gas ban unlikely, Cook did not rule out some flexibility to help make potential projects more viable, but was adamant that local supply was the priority.

"You can absolutely rest assured that our domestic gas reservation policy will be an important part of what we do," he said.

"I think you know what our position on this is - it was first brought in by Gallop, tightened by McGowan, and I've had a go at it,
"In the current global uncertainty, we'll want that domestic gas for WA businesses and families."

In just seven years, Australia's most gas-dependent state has flipped from using the promise of cheap and abundant gas to lure investment to a doubling of prices and shortages predicted within a few years.

Cook acknowledged the changed role of the fuel, warning of "the rising costs of coal and gas-fired power generation."

The ban on exporting onshore gas leaves the Browse field as the only realistic option for Woodside to keep its ageing North West Shelf gas plant operating beyond the 2030's when the project's own fields are expected to be depleted.

Black Mountain Energy, which plans to use fracking to produce gas in the Kimberley, has an exemption from the export ban, but the project is unlikely to happen.

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