Australia's gas resources and its new approaches.

Australia is uniquely positioned globally as a major energy provider, but this comes with multiple challenges that must be overcome to realize its full potential. LNG developments that are nearing fruition are set to make Australia the largest supplier of LNG in the world. The Asian LNG market continues to be the growth market. The development of the world's first coal bed methane (coal seam gas) to LNG projects on the east coast has created a robust east coast LNG export market that complements the long term and expanding west coast LNG developments. However, in the near future this is expected to coincide with an east coast energy shortage, arising from low exploration activity, maturing fields, higher costs, the interaction of government policy, commercial decisions and activism. As a result, unique approaches to project management and community relations have been developed that are complementary to the Australian consumer's needs for reliable, affordable and cleaner energy. The east coast demand for gas is likely to trigger new development of onshore Northern Territory gas in the short term, if political opposition can be managed. In Western Australia, new approaches leverage technologies such as floating LNG, and more utilization of existing infrastructure and plant capacity to achieve lower costs. This paper outlines Australia's natural gas supply & demand and the challenges to be faced in the coming years. • Provides an overview of the Australian gas supply and demand in the global context. •Outlines Australia's LNG export facilities and potential future developments. •Briefly reviews regulation and consumers' needs for reliable and clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]