From 'The Age' Tuesday 22 March 2022:

(well done ExxonMobil!)

ExxonMobil fires warning over Victoria’s plan to turn off gas

By Nick Toscano

March 22, 2022 — 12.00am

Energy giant ExxonMobil is warning millions of Victorians who rely on gas for heating, cooking and hot water face the threat of price spikes and possible supply shortages if the Andrews government proceeds with a proposal to halve gas use by the end of the decade.

United States-based ExxonMobil – operator of the Bass Strait oil and gas fields off Victoria’s coast – is growing increasingly concerned about the prospect of aggressive targets to slash gas consumption as the government builds a strategy to reduce the state’s high reliance on the fossil fuel.

Victoria is the state’s biggest user of natural gas in heating, hot water and cooking.Credit:John Woudstra

While the targets have not yet been formalised, government officials at a meeting that included gas industry representatives and environmental groups in February cited modelling for multiple scenarios that indicated a 25 per cent cut by mid-decade and a 50 per cent cut by 2030, two sources familiar with the presentation have confirmed.

The Andrews government is conducting public consultations for a Gas Substitution Roadmap that will outline plans to achieve Victoria’s emissions reduction targets including using electrical appliances for heating rather than gas, improving energy efficiency and focusing on alternative fuels such as hydrogen or biogas. Although natural gas remains widely used in Australia and across the world, efforts are under way globally to cut the use of all fossil fuels as part of an accelerating push to avoid catastrophic global warming.

In a speech to be delivered at the Australian Domestic Gas Outlook conference on Tuesday, Exxon Australia commercial director David Berman says the policy threatens to deter companies from investing in enough new sources of supply to avoid what authorities warn is a looming shortage of the fuel in south-eastern states in coming years.

“The magnitude and timing of these demand reductions means the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap is a significant risk to the gas investments that will be needed in the state, and is the single largest threat to near-term gas supply for the 80 per cent of Victorian households that rely on gas for heating, hot water and cooking,” Mr Berman says...

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