Historic shift in gas policy
Resources Minister Madeleine King added the policy was part of broader gas market reforms that involve scrapping the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism, a policy that allows the government to restrict exports from the three east coast LNG plants.
The government will also remove an agreement under which the three exporters committed to offer any uncontracted gas volumes to the domestic market on internationally competitive terms.
“Today is a very important and historic structural shift in Australia’s domestic gas market policy settings,” King said.
Shares in Santos, which operates the Gladstone LNG project in Queensland, fell three per cent in afternoon trading. Origin Energy, which leads rival export consortium Australia Pacific LNG, was down 1.2 per cent. The declines came as energy stocks weakened broadly due to lower oil prices.