In his address at the opening of the APPEA conference in Perth, APPEA Chairman Rob Cole has called for stakeholders to ‘come together as an industry and nation to encourage the next wave of [LNG] investment’.
‘With almost all of the current LNG mega-projects expected to be operating by 2017, what’s left in the pipeline is pretty thin,’ Mr Cole said.
He attributes recent delays and revaluations of large gas projects to rising costs within Australia compared to overseas.
‘While the costs of overseas supplied goods have been relatively stable, the costs of locally supplied goods and services have risen dramatically.
This weighs heavily on Chevron and its partners as we consider a fourth train expansion of Gorgon.
While the main focus remains on the construction of the Foundation Project, we remain supportive of a Gorgon expansion provided the cost settings are corrected.
To enable these projects to move forward it will require industry, government, buyers, sellers and unions to come together.’
Mr Cole suggests that the key to solving these issues and encouraging future growth in the sector is threefold.
The steps he suggests involve:
- Policy reform from government, with support from industry;
- LNG buyers and sellers coming together on contracts that are mutually beneficial;
- A continued industry focus on technology and innovation to enable growth.
A full transcription of the speech can be viewed here.
