APA Group has committed AU$480 million to the expansion of its east coast gas grid, which will add 30 per cent additional transport capacity.
The stage three expansion includes an investment of AU$260 million to increase north to south capacity, supplying essential Australian gas to southern markets for winter 2028.
APA has also committed to an AU$220 million investment to enable continued early works and procurement of long lead items for the Bulloo Interlink and further pre-final investment decision works to deliver additional capacity beyond winter 2028.
APA CEO Adam Watson said: “These capacity expansion investments by APA, along with future planned expansions, make it crystal clear that pipeline capacity will not be a constraint to solving projected east coast gas supply shortfalls.
“It’s now critical that the federal government implements a well-designed gas reservation policy that supports upstream investment and ensures adequate volumes are supplied into the east coast.”
The staged expansion plan is designed to minimise costs for customers by anticipating demand with a fit for purposes and responsive solution.
APA’s stage three investments are expected to deliver financial returns above APA’s return hurdles. The investments will be funded from APA’s existing balance sheet capacity and form part of APA’s AU$3 billion organic growth pipeline.
Watson argued that Australia has enough natural gas to support both the domestic market and Asian LNG customers. He warned that resorting to importing LNG when Australia is one of the three largest LNG exporters in the world would represent a massive government failure.
“Incremental investment in existing pipeline infrastructure is a logical, proven and timely solution to meet domestic gas needs.
“APA is addressing southern gas market transport bottlenecks and there’s plenty of domestic gas in the ground.
“The last piece is the introduction of the domestic gas reservation so Australia’s domestic gas market can get back to what it does best – powering Australian homes and driving Australian industry.”
