People would starve without natural gas and its role in food production, an energy infrastructure boss has said in defence of his company’s future projects.
Energy infrastructure company APA Group will spend $700 million towards a pipeline to deliver gas from Queensland to NSW.
But activist shareholders at the company’s annual meeting have questioned the viability of future greenfield gas projects.
Almost half of the world’s fertiliser depended on natural gas, chief executive and managing director Adam Watson told APA shareholders in Sydney on Thursday.
“Yes, there are time risks, obviously, but what’s better, gas or starvation?” he said.
Gas energy generation resulted in half the carbon emissions compared to coal, he argued.
“I agree it’s not perfect, agree that it has emissions, and agree if the technology was there to be able to do something different, then we and everybody else would be doing it,” Mr Watson said.
“We are, with respect to renewables, but at the end of the day, gas plays an absolutely critical role.”
APA Group also develops wind farms, solar farms and storage batteries.
In a contentious AGM, one shareholder resolution demanded transparency on the viability of new gas projects as nations’ Paris climate goals impacted demand.
The motion, launched by environmental non-profit Market Forces, was backed by more than 115 shareholders, including US and Norwegian pension funds.
It questioned APA’s planned multibillion-dollar North to East Australia Pipeline, which would transport fracking gas from the NT’s Beetaloo Basin.
“APA is relying on fantasy demand scenarios that ignore an impending global liquefied natural gas glut while major energy companies have ruled out the economic viability of Beetaloo fracking,” Market Forces corporate campaigner Angelica Mantikas said.
Furthermore, most of the gas from Beetaloo would go overseas, Australian Institute co-chief executive and economist Richard Dennis said.
The think tank has thrown its support behind other groups calling for a flat 25 per cent tax on gas exports.
“This would raise more than $17 billion a year which could be spent on Australian schools, hospitals, roads, aged care, disability care and so much more,” Mr Dennis said.
APA’s leader rubbished the idea, telling AAP there was no industry in Australia without gas, which was used in producing steel, bricks, fertiliser, cement and glass.
“There is no energy security in Australia without gas,” he said.
“To start taxing the producers to make their businesses uneconomical, (then) we are in a world of pain.”
The underground Bulloo Interlink Pipeline announced on Thursday is the third stage of the company’s east coast grid expansion, designed to shore up supply and deliver gas along the east coast as Bass Strait gas reserves dry up.
APA also entered a five-year east coast gas transport and storage deal with Origin Energy which, along with federal Labor’s proposed domestic gas reservation plan, could drive longer-term price contracting.
Mr Watson said the reservation would be good for the nation, but the government needed to balance industry and consumer needs.
“We need to get the balance right to ensure that there are competitive prices, affordable prices there for customers, but also ensuring there are still incentives to invest in new supply,” he said.
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