Asia will continue to deliver opportunities for Australian gas: Appea

Australia’s peak oil and gas body Appea on October 13 said that natural gas has a critical role to play in Asia through coal-to-gas switching, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), hydrogen production, supporting renewables, and the rise of low-carbon gases.

Appea said that IEA’s World Energy Outlook highlighted that as the global energy market is being reshaped to meet emissions reduction commitments, natural gas remains an important part of a cleaner energy future.

Appea CEO Andrew McConville said the versatility of natural gas was underscored by the different roles it was forecast to play across the four scenarios outlined in the IEA outlook.

“Every scenario represents an opportunity for Australia with high paying, skilled jobs, export dollars and taxation revenue to governments for decades,” McConville said.

“The IEA has again reaffirmed on a lifecycle basis, natural gas has much lower associated emissions than coal in electricity generation and switching to natural gas provides an opportunity to lower emissions quickly, particularly in Asia. The report highlights that since 2010 coal-to-gas switching has reduced global emissions by around 750 Mt CO₂ than they otherwise would have been,” he added.

McConville said the oil and gas industry is at the forefront of new energy technologies such as CCS and hydrogen while Australian LNG exports to Asia will continue to help lower emissions. He said that Appea supports government policy and industry action that targets net zero by 2050 across the Australian economy.