Oz LNG Sector Must Win PR Battle to Ensure Growth: Santos

If Australia’s LNG sector is to grow it needs to win back public support, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said May 15 in the opening plenary address at the APPEA 2018 conference.

“Until we win back public support by developing gas resources in a way that works for the community, they will not accept a growing Australian LNG industry,” he said.

The industry was blindsided last year by the community outage which followed rising domestic prices and concerns of shortages, and the subsequent gas export controls implemented by the federal government, he said.

“Worse was that – as an industry – we were divided. Disunity in the pursuit of individual self-interest undermined the position of the gas industry as a whole,” he said.

He said that the public debate was, and still is, ripe for opportunism with the public relations battle still being lost. “There has never been a more important time for the industry to unite behind a common purpose,” he said.

To win back public support, he said, it means ensuring that Australians share in the wealth generated from gas development, future energy is secure and affordable, and that the environment is protected.

“Those who want to shut the fossil fuel industry down will have a free run until communities right across Australia trust us on these issues,” he said.

He also said that the industry needs to take a fresh look at policy ideas, such as national interests tests and reservation policies, which have broad community support, but to which the industry has been historically opposed.

If the sector refuses the engage in discussions on these issues, “we might find ourselves squabbling over the spoils of defeat,” he said.