CHIEF Minister Adam Giles opened northern Australia's largest...

CHIEF Minister Adam Giles opened northern Australia's largest gas conference with a pitch to Woodside to pipe its Browse gas to the Territory for processing and export.

The energy giant last month formally backed floating LNG technology to develop its massive gas reserve which lies near the Ichthys deposit in Commonwealth waters off the coast of Western Australia.

But Mr Giles confirmed he had made a "massive pitch" to Woodside to pipe the gas to the NT for processing instead in his opening speech at the SEAAOC conference in Darwin this morning.

Mr Gile said there's a 5km wide easement, unencumbered land and legislative certainty with no third-party environmental appeal rights.

"It's of competitive interest for Woodside to come to the NT," he said.

By avoiding onshore processing in Western Australia, offshore producers avoid the 15 per cent domestic gas reservation policy that ensures energy is made available for domestic purchasers such as the manufacturing industry.

The former Henderson Government ensured Inpex would not reserve any Ichthys gas if they piped it to the Territory.

The Blaydin Point export gas plant now under construction has the capacity to expand from two trains to six.

Gas user lobby group the DomGas alliance has called the floating LNG processing technology the biggest threat to the Western Australia's energy security as it allows producers to bypass the reservation policy and export all production.

It has been pushing for a plan to force developers such as Woodside to allocate more onshore gas production to make up for the shortfall.

The Northern Territory also has a shortage of gas to offer manufacturers such as Pacific Aluminium's Gove refinery.

But Mr Giles said yesterday that shale gas was a "game changer" and that companies would not explore in the Territory if a similar gas reservation policy were applied.

Mr Giles said the Government could potentially purchase gas from onshore suppliers but was not able guarantee it would have the option to do so.