The voice of Australia's oil and gas industry has welcomed a new Queensland exploration plan set to unlock regional areas and stimulate investment in the sector.
The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association today backed the Palaszczuk Government's announcement about the 2021 Queensland Exploration Plan.
"Queensland continues to lead the way in developing much-needed gas resources as we transition to net zero by 2050," APPEA Acting Queensland Director Matthew Paull said.
"More exploration supports more investment which means more jobs and more supply."
His comments come after the state's Resources Minister, Scott Stewart, released the 2021 Queensland Exploration Plan, giving advance notice of areas to be released for exploration tenders.
According to the government, more than 14,400 square kilometres of regional areas will be made available for oil and gas exploration.
Mr Paull said: "Natural gas is an essential feedstock for manufacturing and allows for more renewables to be integrated into the grid due to its short response time.
"Gas-fired power generation can ramp up and down very quickly to support renewable generation and provide emissions reduction along with it."
Australian gas continues to flow to domestic customers, with a new Gas Supply Agreement with a domestic customer effectively announced every three weeks this year.
Since late 2012, more than 114 gas supply agreements have been signed and agreed with gas customers.
"The cheapest gas is the gas closest to the customer," Mr Paull said.
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