Value of Kingia and High Cliff Reserves, page-8

If you think that's heaps of coal, you should see the east coast. The WA coalfields are a drop in the ocean by comparison. Quality isn't really the issue either - Victoria's coal is even worse (lignite), but both coal fields and power stations are enormous.

It's just that WA has abundant gas, so the vast majority of WA's generation is gas-fired. That's why WA's gas consumption is almost as high as the entire east coast combined, despite WA's population being not much more than a tenth of the east's.

Shipping doesn't really come into the equation when it's all connected by pipeline. Well performance will determine economics, not pipeline tolls. So it will all come down to the reservoir quality of that upper sand. At a pinch, they might be able to use laterals and fraccing on that lower sand, but drilling costs are huge in WA too (along with everything else) so I'm hoping they'll get a better test out of the upper sand, one they can tap as a conventional well and not have to worry about tight gas drilling techniques.