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Last week, Mr Andrews said he had no intention of changing bans on fracking and CSG.<\/p>\n
“There’s enough energy there… it’s just how it’s bought and sold, how it’s shared and spread,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There are some people who want to frack up the joint across the whole state – that’s not us.”<\/p>\n
The Andrews Government has long held the position that new conventional gas extracted in the state should be first be offered to local users, and \u2013 following predictions that Victoria’s largest gas field in the Bass Strait may be close to depletion \u2013 has been increasing its support for the expansion of operators in the Otway Basin.<\/p>\n
Lochard, Cooper and Beach Energy are all well established in the region, the latter given the green light by the Corangamite Shire in April to build a gas well near Port Campbell that will source gas via a pipeline beneath the sea floor.<\/p>\n
The decision followed the granting of a gas production licence to the company by Victoria’s earth resources regulator a week before which it described as “consistent with the Victorian Government’s ban on fracking”.<\/p>\n
The gas exploration and production footprint in the Otway Basin could triple in coming years if offshore leases granted by the state and federal government prove viable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SHORTFALLS on the availability of gas for domestic use in Victoria and a massive spike in gas prices is focusing attention on the potential of the Otways Basin to help fuel demand for the resource. Responding to the energy crisis that has seen gas prices triple for some businesses and warnings from the Australian Energy […]<\/p>\n