Is the new NT Chief Minister a nut a dreamer or a genius, Who knows but this is the latest in the great pipeline debacle of sending gas to Gove. his next stop is to Europe and then beyond.?
JOINING Australia's gas pipelines through the Northern Territory could bring energy security to the nation, NT Chief Minister Terry Mills has said.
Mr Mills was in Canberra seeking Federal Government support for his plan to link Australia's separate pipeline networks and said the idea was well-received by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Western Australia's pipes would be linked to the Territory with a line from Dampier to Mereenie.
The Eastern Seaboard would be connected by another pipeline from Tenant Creek to either Mt Isa in Queensland or Moonta in South Australia, he said.
The move would open up onshore gas supplies for cheaper, easier development, which Mr Mills hopes could solve the Territory's domestic gas shortage.
But a physical shortage is not the problem as that gas producers are unwilling to forego higher prices in the LNG export market to supply domestic industry, industry sources have said. Chairman of the Energy Users Association of Australia Brian Green said Governments needed to think of the national interest when drafting terms of gas extraction licenses.
"If we're going to export all the gas it will lead to the demise of local manufacturing," he said.
The (gas) producers don't own the gas reserves," he said. "The Australian people own the gas reserves.
"The producers only have a licence to extract and sell them. The conditions and terms of those licenses should be to the overall benefit of Australia."
The Northern Territory town of Nhulunbuy is set to lose 800 jobs and half its population after mining company Rio Tinto failed to secure gas to power its alumina refinery and bauxite mine.
All other known Territory deposits had been sold or earmarked for higher-priced export LNG markets.
Rio has asked the NT Government for half of its cheap domestic supplies or it will shut the refinery. And Queensland is facing fears the Gladstone LNG plant will funnel available domestic gas into lucrative LNG export markets, pushing up domestic demand and prices.
Coal seam gas producers racing to fill export commitments after project delays may also buy up domestic supplies to fill their contracts leaving the Eastern Seaboard with soaring prices.
Australian Pipeline Industry Association head Cheryl Cartwright said the idea of a national network was both "technically possible and fabulous".
"The main stumbling block was the price tag. One big investment in one go is what is holding it up," she said.
"It's difficult for Governments in these days of short term politics to have the long term vision."
The issue has become a national one with Mr Green saying gas prices in Western Australia were too high - even with their domestic gas reservation policy.
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