A NSW parliamentary inquiry has recommended any expansion of the coal seam gas (CSG) industry be put on hold until the NSW Government has introduced all the recommendations made by the State’s Chief Scientist last year.
The NSW Legislative Council’s Select Committee on the supply and cost of gas and liquid fuels in New South Wales made the recommendation in its inquiry report.
“The NSW government proposes to address the challenges facing New South Wales by developing the state’s coal seam gas reserves. In light of the significant public debate about coal seam gas extraction, it is a recommendation of this report that such expansion is not contemplated until all the recommendations of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, contained in the 2014 Independent Review of Coal Seam Gas Activities in NSW, are implemented in full,” stated committee chair Robert Borsak in the report.
Other recommendations include:
- making information detailing the amount of gas available for purchase available on the National Gas Bulletin Board;
- creating a gas market equivalent of the National Electricity Market and undertaking an audit of all regulatory tools available to the NSW Government to improve transparency and openness in the gas market in New South Wales and Australia, and
- introducing an Australia-wide domestic gas reservation policy, while the recommendations in the Chief Scientist and Engineer’s final report of the Independent Review of Coal Seam Gas Activities in NSW (September 2014) are being implemented.
