Natural Gas Suppliers

Mr BROWN (Florey) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Energy and Mining. Can the minister update the house on natural gas discoveries in the Cooper Basin?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:34): As it stands, I can, and I thank the member for Florey for his question. I am pleased to inform the house that we now have another gas supplier in the Cooper Basin, amongst the existing producers, Santos and Beach Energy.

Vintage Energy was formed in Adelaide in 2015 amid the backdrop of the developing energy and gas supply crisis in the Eastern States. The company listed on 17 September 2018. Since then, it has targeted natural gas exploration opportunities that could deliver much-needed gas into the South Australian and eastern Australian gas markets.

Only 4½ years after it was listed, this successful South Australian company is already now supplying natural gas into the Moomba gas gathering network. Vintage Energy and its joint venture partners, Metgasco and Bridgeport Energy, have discovered two gas fields since 2020. In 2020, they discovered Vali 1, a gas field in south-west Queensland, which they followed up with two additional wells to evaluate the discovery. This field is one of the largest Cooper Basin discoveries made in the past decade. In 2021, they discovered Odin 1, a nearby gas field on the South Australian side of the Cooper Basin border.

Vali 1 has since been connected to the SA Cooper Basin gas gathering infrastructure and delivered its first natural gas production last month on 21 February 2023. AGL prepaid the $15 million joint venture enabling Vali 1 to be brought online earlier than expected, and a long-term supply agreement with AGL was pivotal to securing the capital. Vali 1 gas has been contracted to supply an estimated nine to 16 petajoules of gas to AGL from field startup to the end of 2026. They expect the field would lead to production of 101 petajoules of natural gas over the field's life, 85 petajoules of which is uncontracted.

As I mentioned, Vintage has another opportunity in the Cooper Basin that they are currently pursuing. Works to connect the Odin 1 gas field to gas infrastructure is underway and is expected to be completed this year. The field has been independently certified as containing contingent resource of 40 petajoules of gas. Gas from both fields will be processed here in South Australia and will feed the South Australian and eastern Australian gas markets. As the Odin 1 gas field is located in South Australia, production from that gas field has the added benefit of creating royalties for South Australia.

The South Australian government congratulates Vintage Energy and the Cooper Basin joint venture for the integration of the Moomba gas gathering network. Both the South Australian and commonwealth governments support the gas industry as an essential partner in the energy transition for many years to come.

The Prime Minister yesterday said that gas has a key role to play in the smooth transition to renewables and guaranteeing energy security for both Australia and our partners in the region. These significant gas discoveries stand to supply the South Australian and eastern Australian markets for many years to come. I commend Vintage Energy and the South Australians behind it.