BlueScope, Visy agree to buy gas from Senex’s stalled $1 billion Atlas project in Queensland

“Natural gas will continue to play a vital role in Australian industry in both replacing more carbon-intensive forms of energy and providing a reliable source of energy as intermittent renewables and new technologies mature and work at scale,” Davies said.

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Tania Archibald, BlueScope’s head of Australian steel products, said the gas supply agreement was important for BlueScope’s manufacturing operations.

“A secure and reliable supply of natural gas to our operations is important to BlueScope and a decade-long gas deal with Senex assists in meeting this objective,” she said.

Although the world must urgently reduce its use of fossil fuels to avert the worsening climate crisis, millions of homes and businesses across south-eastern Australia are still reliant on gas for cooking, heating, hot water and manufacturing processes – and face the threat of shortfalls emerging later this decade.

The Australian Energy Market Operator is warning gas users in Victoria, NSW and South Australia are facing yearly gas supply deficits from 2027 unless more supplies are made available.

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Australia is one of the world’s largest producers of gas, but massive volumes of production from Queensland’s gas fields are locked into long-term export contracts to LNG buyers, while several gas fields that have supplied southern markets from the Bass Strait for decades are entering rapid decline without new projects to replace them.

Conservation groups, including Environment Victoria, insist the forecasts leave ample time for governments to enact strategies to slash gas demand, such as switching gas heaters to electric and banning new residential gas connections, rather than lifting supplies of harmful fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contribute to the worsening climate crisis. However, with more than 2 million gas-connected homes and businesses in Victoria alone, there are concerns that time is running out.

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