![\"Annie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a2a293ed1cbc6dae4ee233217e664c99.jpeg\")
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The project will use existing infrastructure from the Casino-Henry-Netherby gas field in the Otway Basin. (Supplied: Amplitude Energy)<\/p>\n
The decision comes as the Victorian government works to transition households and businesses away from gas<\/a> and onto electric supplies.<\/p>\n Victoria’s gas shortage explained<\/a><\/p>\n Is Victoria really on track to run out of gas?\u00a0<\/p>\n Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the government had a plan to manage the energy transition “responsibly”.<\/p>\n “This approval unlocks more affordable, locally produced gas for Victorians, helping to secure supplies for the industries that still rely on gas,” she said.<\/p>\n The government said the project could provide energy for industries that were unable to switch to electric alternatives.<\/p>\n Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said the project was expected to provide gas exclusively for domestic use, which the government hoped would ease the risk of potential shortfalls.<\/p>\n The federal government was also seeking nominations for new areas for offshore exploration in Tasmania and Victoria’s Gippsland and Bass basins.<\/p>\n The move is tipped to anger environmentalists who have successfully fought new drilling in waters along the south-west Victorian coast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Victorian Greens have slammed the project, saying the government should not be approving fossil fuel projects that slow the energy transition.<\/p>\n Environment Victoria has also criticised the approval.<\/p>\n The not-for-profit’s climate campaign manager Joy Toose said\u00a0the government should be continuing to help more Victorian households and businesses switch to electric energy, instead of locking in new gas projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The [United Nations’] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is clear that projected emissions from existing and planned fossil fuel developments have already\u00a0used up\u00a0the carbon budget to limit global heating to 2 degrees,” Ms Toose said.<\/p>\n “Every new gas field approved makes the path to a safe climate harder and more expensive,” she said.<\/p>\n The Victorian government says the new project will begin feeding in gas supplies from 2028. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Amplitude Energy said the project was subject to extensive community consultation, and that gas production had been operating in the region for more than 20 years, alongside tourism, agriculture, and other small industries.<\/p>\n The spokesperson said the project would have little impact on the visual amenity of the area near the Twelve Apostles.<\/p>\n “As the project’s infrastructure is subsurface, it is not at all visible and therefore it will not include any visual impact on the area apart from the temporary drilling phase,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n A ‘positive and sensible step’<\/p>\n The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has pushed back its peak-day gas shortfall forecast to 2029, with the regulator stating reduced gas consumption and increased peak-day supply had helped bolster supplies.<\/p>\n![\"Chimneys](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/85e0b2dac2e8d4b66e6aeb4bd0ff0990.jpeg\")
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