The Palaszczuk Government's pioneering gas policy is paying off again for Australian manufacturers and jobs.
Resources Minister Scott Stewart said Queensland gas producer Senex Energy has sealed a deal to supply up to 11 petajoules of natural gas to Aussie manufacturer Adbri – in line with the domestic gas policy the State Government put in place in 2017.
"The Palaszczuk Government's domestic gas policy is keeping more of our gas on our shores," Mr Stewart said.
"It's ensuring Australian businesses have access to Queensland natural gas, driving our COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.
"Queensland has been doing the heavy lifting on domestic gas policy and supply for several years.
"Three years ago, we made a ground-breaking move to grant a production lease to Senex to supply natural gas to Australian customers only.
"This is just another string in the bow of our vital resources sector, which has continued to operate throughout the pandemic, supporting an average of 76,000 jobs.
"Senex's Project Atlas is now creating jobs and royalties for Queensland, as well as boosting domestic gas supply for manufacturing and power generation."
Senex and Adbri have announced a seven-year agreement for Project Atlas natural gas to support Adbri's South Australian cement manufacturing operations from January 2023.
Senex already holds agreements to supply Queensland natural gas to CSR Building Products, Orora, Visy Glass, Nyrstar and Southern Oil Refining as well as Queensland's publicly-owned clean energy generator, CleanCo Queensland.
Senex's deal with Nyrstar alone will supply the South Australian company's metal processing plant with 1.7 petajoules of natural gas for three years from 2022.
Mr Stewart said the Palaszczuk Government remains committed to driving investment in the state's resources sector.
"The gas sector is generating jobs and economic benefits, particularly for regional Queenslanders," said Mr Stewart.
"Since 2015 our Government has released nearly 80,000 square kilometres of land for gas exploration with more than a quarter of it guaranteed for the Australian domestic market."
