Among the industry reports being released to coincide with the start of APPEA is a forecast by consultancy Wood Mackenzie that gas prices on the east coast are set to surge by up to 30 per cent by the mid 2020s, providing more gloom for industrial buyers calling out for lower prices.
Wood Mackenzie is estimating east coast domestic prices will increase to as high as $13 a gigajoule by the middle of next decade, on top of the doubling or trebling in prices already seen by some buyers over the past few years amid the start-up of Queensland LNG exports and declining cheap gas supplies from the Cooper Basin and offshore Victoria.
WoodMac notes gas demand is in flux as power generators compete with industrial users for gas. It forecasts that gas buyers representing about 12 per cent of domestic gas demand is at most risk of closure.
But the consultancy says there is also opportunity in the market dynamics, pointing to a new high value opportunity emerging for gas storage and trading, as well as for importing LNG into an interconnected gas grid.
BUL Price at posting:
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