Treasurer Matt Kean’s Hunter gas pipeline approval has set “a tragically low bar” for landholder rights, says National Farmers’ Federation’s Fiona Simson, as the war between Santos and NSW farmers escalates. Callum Foote reports.
It looks increasingly likely that Santos will get to frack the Liverpool Plains as farmers and landholders in the area ramp up their campaign against the gas giant and their lobby groups. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association of Australia (APPEA), the gas industry’s peak body, has called the Liverpool plains “runway for development.” According to Simson, this shows:
No regard for traditional owners, current landholders, sustainable agriculture and resources, or appropriate compensation for anyone.
“We’re campaigning for a Commonwealth-led mandatory code of conduct to lift the standard on landholder engagement and the respect shown to communities by energy and infrastructure companies. We need to do better than this.”
In 2014 Santos signed a document that laid out principles of land access regarding private landholders in NSW.
According to Liverpool Plains landholder Peter Wills “At that stage, Santos signed a document acknowledging private landholders’ rights to say No.”
Recently, Santos called the local police to deal with a group of farmers and landholders who wished to bar Santos’ seismic testing in the Liverpool Plains.
Police pushing #liverpoolplains farmers out of way to enable @SantosLtd to continue seismic testing for new Gasfields in farmland. @Dom_Perrottet @PaulTooleMP @Matt_KeanMP @ChrisMinnsMP #narrabrigas #nswpol #nswvotes pic.twitter.com/JHUFWxMLzn
— 💧Peter Wills (@peterjameswills) January 29, 2023
“What they say isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” Wills says.
Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has repeatedly denied that there are plans to frack the Liverpool plains, white Santos spokespeople also claim that “it would be inappropriate for Santos to withdraw permit renewal applications until it has had the opportunity to recover its investment and more fully evaluate the Gunnedah basin, without affecting biophysical strategic agricultural land or water resources.”
On Friday, the Gunnedah Council withdrew a notice of motion to support Santos’ moves to develop coal seam gas infrastructure on the Liverpool plains citing “too much opposition in the community”.
Santos edges in on fracking the Liverpool Plains despite repeated denials
Former New England Independent federal MP, Tony Windsor, has also been campaigning hard against Santos’ perceived expansion into the Liverpool Plains.
Windsor says that the five Nationals councillors on the Gunnedah shire council, which extends a small way into the Liverpool plains were being “heavied by the Nationals hierarchy to move a motion of support for Santos’ project on the floodplain”.
This is in contrast to those on the Liverpool Plains Shire Council “who strongly oppose the Hunter Gas pipeline and Gasfield exploration in our Shire,” says local landowner and anti-Santos advocate Peter Wills.
Other gas battlegrounds
Narrabri and the adjoining Liverpool plains are not the only new battlegrounds where the war over gas is waged.
The end of last week saw the Central Australian Frack Free Alliance (CAFFA) announce its bid to have the NT Supreme Court review a decision by NT Environment Minister Lauren Moss to approve new plans for US-owned Tamboran Resources to drill 12 exploratory wells in the Beetaloo Basin.
Tamboran’s two cornerstone investors are US funds Baupost Group and Lion Point Capital which has a track record of backing successful shale plays in the US and “have the risk tolerance to support an accelerated pilot development” in the Beetaloo, according to the AFR.
Tamboran has significant anchorage in the Northern Territory. It operates three exploratory permits through a joint venture with Daly Water Energy (a wholly owned subsidiary of Bryan Sheffield’s company) and Falcon Oil and Gas. Tamboran also holds a 25% working interest in exploratory permit 161 in a joint venture with Santos while either owning or operating three other exploration permits.
Tamboran is also backed by Rich Lister Paul Fudge, who made billions from the sale of coal seam gas acreage during Queensland’s CSG boom. It’s chairman is Dick Stoneburner is a billionaire who was founder and president of Petrohawk Energy, which was sold for $US12.1 billion to BHP in 2011. Oil Search veteran, Ann Diamant, is a non-executive director.
In 2020 there was a lack of private interest in funding new oil and gas ventures. Tamboran’s IPO was initially slated at $195 million in June 2020, but it finally listed in July 2021 at a valuation of $66 million. At the time, Tamboran was accused of misleading investors and had to issue a revised prospectus.
A report made to ASIC by Bruce Robertson at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) had questioned the validity of the company’s analysis. Tamboran’s original prospectus used data which was two years out of date to make the claim that new gas extraction would be increasingly profitable over the next two decades.
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Callum Foote was a reporter for Michael West Media for four years.