There may be enough gas for the initial supplies to the pipeline...

There may be enough gas for the initial supplies to the pipeline but to build a business case for a large expenditure on NEGI long term certainly of supply is essential so the moratorium is a problem. The gas reserves and contingent resources for the Mereenie oil & gas gas resources are very low permeability reservoir sands so fracking would seem to be the best and cheapest way to tap them. Horizontal drilling is more expensive and the benefits are often potentiated by fracking so horizontal drilling without the fracking option would significantly add costs. Agree that RC is correct in slamming the Labour policy but in the short term it is increasingly popular in the electorate. Following is an extract from a policy statement by the iTerritory party.

For any Territory government to sell or lease, and permit unrestricted exploitation of the Territory’s fresh water aquifers without any public consultation, without reliable and unbiased science, and deploying the utmost caution against long term degradation, would beggar belief.
But that’s a fate that Territorians now face from currently elected politicians: The Giles led Country Liberal Party and the Gunner led Labor Party.
I am talking about shale gas fracking. A report about it was prepared by Dr Alan Hawke. I have seen the terms of reference and I am familiar with the processes within the Giles government which led to the adoption of the report.
It is amazing that the Lock the Gate Alliance, in the poll it conducted this week, has ignored that there is a party in the NT absolutely opposed to fracking, namely us, 1Territory.
That’s a lot better than the arbitrary five year moratorium floated by the ALP, which the poll is obviously meant to be supporting.