Australia’s Santos and its GLNG joint venture partners will supply 30 petajoules of natural gas to the east coast domestic market over 2018 and 2019.
The gas, which would otherwise have been exported as LNG, is being sold to east coast customers including power companies.
Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said that over the last few months, the company had been working “constructively” with the Federal Government and the GLNG partners to supply additional gas to the east coast domestic market.
“30 PJ is a material volume of gas which could power a 228 MW power station or 330,000 homes over the two year period,” he said.
The deal follows a decision by the government earlier this year to restrict gas exports, in a bid to counter domestic shortages which have been pushing prices higher in Australia.
“As an Australian company we are committed to improving energy reliability and affordability for all Australians, both householders and industry,” Gallagher said .
“We have been producing and marketing domestic gas for many years, and we have the capacity to leverage our various assets and partnerships to ensure this energy security,” he added.
Santos recently also signed deals similar to this one for the delivery of up to 72 PJ of gas over four years into the south-east market through a swap agreement and the sale of 15 PJ to the Pelican Point Power Station in South Australia.