Australia’s oil and gas industry looks forward to working with Western Australia’s new Cook Government to strengthen the state’s economy and accelerate the energy system transformation to net zero.

Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) WA Director Caroline Cherry today said the industry wanted to collaborate with Premier Roger Cook’s new ministerial team to continue to create and support local jobs and deliver energy security for the state.

“The oil and gas industry congratulates Roger Cook on becoming Premier and looks forward to working with him and his new team to create a stronger WA economy,” Ms Cherry said.

“Mr Cook has a strong understanding of the importance of business to the economy, particularly the gas industry’s role securing reliable and affordable domestic energy supply and boosting the energy security of trade partners in the region with LNG exports.

“While our sector delivered around $1.4 billion to the recent state Budget, helping the government fund services and infrastructure like roads, schools and hospitals, our role powering major industries including mining and manufacturing also drives further substantial economic benefits.

“Supporting tens of thousands of jobs across the state, the gas industry is central to the WA economy and will play a critical role decarbonising towards net zero through the deployment of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology and low-carbon hydrogen production.”

Ms Cherry said the industry welcomed the expansion of the portfolio of Mines and Petroleum and Energy Minister Bill Johnston to also include Hydrogen Industry.

“Mr Johnston understands the gas industry and its priorities given his department is already working on carbon capture legislation, a technology important to hydrogen production in a cleaner energy future and critical to emissions reductions across different industries,” she said.

“Over a quarter of hydrogen in 2050 will come from natural gas utilising CCUS, according to the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050 scenario.

“Allowing more emissions reduction per dollar today, the most affordable pathway to low-carbon hydrogen production is currently gas combined with CCUS.

“This can enable all low-carbon hydrogen pathways and faster scale up to support economy-wide decarbonisation.”