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EnergyAustralia has become the third customer for gas from Senex Energy’s stalled $1 billion Atlas project in Queensland, a development dependent on pricing rules to be released by the federal government this weekThe latest deal by Senex, owned by Korean steel giant Posco and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, is the third by the domestic gas producer in just over two weeks, following conditional contracts signed by retailer AGL Energy and manufacturer Orora.

Strong commodity prices and WA’s powerhouse resources sector have played an “outsized” role in boosting the Federal Government’s coffers, with the Budget surplus ballooning to $19 billion at the end of May. New figures from the Department of Finance show a surge in company and personal tax payments underwriting a stronger than expected result. Receipts from the resources sector was one of the biggest contributors. Mr Albanese argued strong export links would be paramount to ensure unemployment levels remained low. “One in four Australian jobs depend on international trade and that ratio is only going to increase as the economic transformation under way in our region, the fastest growing region of the world in human history, gathers pace,” he told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce on Friday.

Senex Energy, the gas producer controlled by Korean steel giant Posco, has signed up manufacturer Orora as a customer on its $1 billion Atlas project despite doubts over its future given the rules on east coast pricing introduced by the Albanese government. Senex, partly owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, agreed to supply more than 14 petajoules of gas from the Atlas expansion to Orora’s glassmaking plant in South Australia over 10 years, starting in 2025.

A series of other recent events have highlighted the importance of gas in the future of Australian resources, starting with pointed comments last week from a former Premier of WA, Colin Barnett, at a Perth resources conference. Barnett said the Australian Government needed to rethink its energy policy because downstream processing of critical and energy minerals such as rare earths and lithium for batteries was “heavily reliant on gas”. Layered over the top of the gas sector is a threatened shortfall of electricity supplies in WA thanks to the collapse of the State’s coal mining industry which has led to the importing of coal from NSW. It was this cocktail of price drivers which sparked the bidding war for Warrego, which was a half-owner of the West Erregulla gas field with Strike which now has Rinehart as its partner, and potential buyer given her obvious interest in growing a big oil and gas business.

1 June 2023.

Vulcan Energy has signed its fourth deal in as many years with European automotive manufacturer Stellantis, agreeing to supply renewable energy to the carmaker’s Mulhouse plant in France.“Vulcan’s core mission is decarbonisation, through renewable energy and carbon neutral lithium supply,” he said.“Vulcan is here to support Stellantis, our largest lithium customer and one of our major shareholders, to decarbonise its operations in Europe.”

GINA Rinehart-owned Senex Energy’s plan for a massive stage three expansion of its Atlas project in Queensland’s coal seam gas heartland has been referred to the environmental minister for approval. Senex plans to drill a further 151 wells across four tenements in the central part of the Surat Basin over the next five to 10 years. It comes as the east coast market grapples with potential supply shortfalls and follows a swathe of new government interventions which could see LNG exports cut by the government if it predicts a "shortfall quarter".

Former West Australian premier Colin Barnett says the Albanese government should stop throwing money at critical minerals mining companies and instead rethink its energy policies to make sure there is affordable and reliable gas supply needed for downstream processing. Mr Barnett said the Albanese government was kidding itself if it thought downstream processing and battery-making ambitions could be achieved without a heavy reliance on natural gas.