Australia looks forward to gas boom

摘要

In 2001, Australia was a modest exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG), with just three customers who bought 975 mn cfd. This year, it has buyers in twice as many countries and LNG contracts for more than two-and-a-half times its 2001 level. The inaugural Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) Gas Market Report released in July, forecasts that Australian exports of LNG could more than triple current levels by 2017. An exploration boom has uncovered several new gas basins offshore and there is also a rapidly growing sector devoted to producing gas from coal-seams. In November, the government published its Energy White Paper, which puts the gas industry at the heart of the country's energy policy.