Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt has welcomed news from Beach Energy of the success of its recent drilling at the Enterprise gas and condensate field offshore southwest Victoria.
The success at Enterprise adds a modest but important 97 petajoules of 2P (proved and probable) reserves to Victorian gas supply along with LPG and condensate.
"I congratulate Beach Energy on their success at Enterprise, which is reward for their continued investment and confidence in the potential of offshore gas in south east Australia," Minister Pitt said.
"The Beach success demonstrates that there continues to be a bright future for the offshore sector which remains critical to meeting the Australian Government commitment to a gas-led recovery.
"This is a great example of the industry operating safely and successfully in an environmentally important area like offshore Port Campbell.
"It is contributing to the local, regional and national economy and co-existing with important local industries like tourism," Minister Pitt said.
"I would urge the Victorian State Government to follow Queensland and the Northern Territory by unlocking other gas potential onshore in the state and remove its ban on unconventional gas exploration.
"The experience of the US shale gas industry is that development of onshore gas can increase competition, lower prices, reinvigorate manufacturing and bring on new jobs and lower emissions," Minister Pitt said.
"The gas sector continues to deliver for Australia at a time we need it most as we continue the economic recovery from COVID. The Coalition Government is leading the way in bringing on new gas supplies - states and territories need to get on board," Minister Pitt said.
