NSW and Victoria may have to consider importing LNG from...

NSW and Victoria may have to consider importing LNG from Queensland or PNG if the states don’t act to get onshore gas out of the ground, even though it would be a costly solution to the current stalemate, Shell Australia chairman Andrew Smith has suggested.

Mr Smith told the APPEA oil and gas industry conference in Brisbane on Monday that the time has come to “think creatively” about how best to serve local gas customers to ensure they have adequate and reliable supplies.

“I, for one, have mused about importing LNG to our nation’s largest city,” he said.

“If we choose not to act on declining gas fields, the idea of constructing a re-gas terminal in Port Botany may fast become a viable alternative for the industry.”

“In the short term LNG imports would introduce new supply and competition into the New South Wales gas market.”