Article by Paul Hunt courtesy of Energy News Bulletin.
GINA Rinehart backed Senex Energy said it might supply glass manufacturer Orora with 14 petajoules of gas over a 10-year period, as it continues its stare down with the federal government over market intervention.
Senex said the conditional supply agreement would come into effect from January 2025 and provided offtake for its proposed Atlas project expansion in Queensland’s Surat Basin. However, this is only provided that the expansion of Atlas goes ahead.
The gas producer halted its expanded field development when the federal government intervened in the market introducing a price cap of $12 a gigajoule for the domestic market.
Senex said while it had committed to supply Orora, unless the price cap and other regulatory measures introduced by the government were resolved to the company’s satisfaction, it was likely the agreement with Orora would become void.
“Orora has been on the journey with us from the beginning, signing one of the first gas contracts from our domestic-only Atlas acreage in 2019,” Senex CEO Ian Davies said.
“Four years on, we’re delighted to have signed another contract with Orora that continues this partnership of reliable gas supply through to 2034.”
It is the second offtake agreement Senex has “conditionally” entered into in recent weeks.
Senex signed an agreement earlier this month with AGL for 42 petajoules of gas commencing from the same start date as the supply contract with Orora.
While spruiking that the contract with AGL would ensure “secure and reliable gas supply” that would “help keep the lights on for Australian households,” Senex said it was conditional only on a “satisfactory resolution” with the government.
The development of Atlas will see production raised to 60 PJ per annum.
