Western Australian natural gas

Western Australia has 80% of Australia's natural gas resources. These resources are currently exploited to supply the Western Australian market and LNG to Japan. Growth in the market in Western Australia is dependent on limited prospects for power generation and mineral resource processing. Future exploitation of gas resources will require new export LNG markets and/or the installation of a transcontinental pipeline to eastern Australia. The transcontinental option should only be considered after other options for energy supply in eastern Australia are eliminated. Competition to meet market growth in North-east Asia will be considerable and Australia lacks the policies to underpin future LNG capacity.