AEP conference: Gas heavyweights decry ‘demonisation’ of industry and defend role in pursuit of net-zero

The leaders of Shell Australia and Santos have come out swinging in defence of their industry, claiming it has been demonised and the potential of carbon capture and storage projects “undermined” amid the net-zero debate.

Shell Australia chair Cecile Wake was resolute while telling an audience at the Australian Energy Producers conference in Perth on Wednesday that there was “no net-zero” without CCS, and that debate about its use was a “prime example” of why decarbonising needed to move past “ideology and politics”.

CCS — a technology based on extracting carbon dioxide and pumping the gas underground — has been pitched as a way to abate and offset the emissions produced by large oil and gas projects. Its critics say it’s a way for fossil fuel producers to keep their businesses going for longer.

In a panel discussion on the role of gas in the energy transition, Ms Wake said the trajectory of what it will take for Australia to reach its net-zero target by 2050 had been oversimplified.

“This illusion that there’ll be trade-offs and that everything renewable will be rolled out perfectly, that coupled with the demonisation of gas and an undermining of CCS does a grave disservice to Australian society,” she said.

“Rightly critical minerals and hydrogen are receiving support, CCS is an absolutely critical part of Australia’s journey to net-zero and it deserves the full support of government.”

AEP has predicted billions of dollars could be invested in the field in Australia between now and 2030, and it has been a big theme of this year’s conference.

Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher, whose company has pushed ahead with the development of the Moomba CCS project in South Australia, said excluding gas from the net-zero conversation was ludicrous.

“We need to get a seat at the table. I think one of the mistakes a lot of governments have made worldwide is by demonising the gas industry, they’ve excluded them from the conversation,” he said.

“They’re taking advice from non-energy producers ... on what the energy future should look like. When you actually sit back and think about that you couldn’t script the ludicrousness of that type of approach.”

Mr Gallagher put the call-out to other companies to move on CCS projects.

“The challenge I would give the industry right now is to get on with building CCS projects, stop talking about it. We got FID (final investment decision) before there was any policy and the regulations weren’t ready,” he said.

“We’re doing that because we think it’s inevitable, we think it’s a winner in every scenario, if I’m wrong my shareholders will probably get me fired.”

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill said on Tuesday the company would be lodging environmental documents for a CCS project to offset its proposed Browse operation off the coast of WA.

Alinta Energy chief executive Jeff Dimery said it “shouldn’t come down to who has the best lobby group in Canberra” to determine the net-zero pathway.

“You can’t help but feel at times the situation we find ourselves in,” he said.