This Month
Green hydrogen too ‘expensive and inefficient’: Finkel
Former chief scientist Alan Finkel – who devised Australia’s first clean hydrogen strategy – now says we are “unlikely to use hydrogen for storage of electricity”.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith, Peter Ker and Jessica Sier
LNG export purse crunched 25pc as prices drop
Australia’s LNG revenue fell in 2023-24 despite flat export volumes, with Santos’ sales broadly reflecting the wider picture as prices softened.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Fortescue’s pivot shakes faith in Labor’s Hydrogen Headstart strategy
Power prices would need to drop steeply and electrolyser costs more than halve to produce hydrogen at anywhere near a competitive level, the industry has warned.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
University teaching could explain why democracy is ‘backsliding’
Letters from readers on social science teaching and democracy; the place of gas in the energy transition; and why any inflation is not desirable.
Labor’s green hydrogen rules for $6.7b subsidy splits producers
Criteria being proposed for renewable hydrogen could mean emissions rise instead of fall as projects “cannibalise” the grid, green advocates warn.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Snowy Hydro pushes gas power ambitions with major storage deal
The 25-year contract will underpin the expansion of the Iona project, and underscores expectations the fuel will remain part of the energy mix past 2050.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Gas bill rises hit households despite east coast price caps
Increases of up to 11 per cent from the biggest retailers will saddle families with steeper energy costs despite a mandated pause in electricity tariff rises.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Woodside signs up Taiwan as long-term LNG customer
Taiwan’s state-owned CPC is already a big customer for Australian liquefied natural gas via Ichthys and Prelude, but the new deal will potentially run into the 2040s.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Aramco denial fuels doubts over Santos’ portfolio
The Saudi giant may be one of several oil and gas producers that took a look at the $25.8 billion ASX company but decided against advancing a formal offer.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Winter gas woes to extend into 2025
Considerably higher demand for heating in the winter months is set to cause supply shortfalls in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
- Tom McIlroy
Santos wins court battle on EDO funding quest
The Federal Court also cleared the way for Santos to pursue the Environmental Defenders Office for costs in its failed case against the Barossa gas project.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Santos cage rattling makes value impossible to ignore
Gas deals are getting extra scrutiny, even those that have nothing to do with keeping the lights on for Australians.
- Anthony Macdonald
Saudi, UAE interest puts $25b Santos in play
Renewed takeover speculation has underlined the oil and gas producer’s status as a potential target in the wave of global energy consolidation.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
June
- Exclusive
- Gas crisis
Queensland approves new gas exploration
The state has awarded tenders for six petroleum and gas exploration areas across the Bowen and Surat basins as a gas crisis grips the country.
- James Hall
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Japan’s LNG diplomacy is in Australia’s national interest
Any move to curb LNG exports that undermine Australia’s reputation would not just threaten new gas projects but damage Australia’s green superpower hopes.
- The AFR View
Japan-Australia ties ‘as much about security as business’
“The Japan-Australia relationship has become broader and more sophisticated than before,” Tokyo Gas chairman Michiaki Hirose says.
- Jessica Sier
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan just a new ideological front
Letters from readers on the Coalition’s proposal for nuclear power, the Armaguard cash deal, the plan to rein in supermarket power, and military recruitment.
Japan using Australian gas to shore up regional influence
Japanese energy companies are on-selling surplus Australian gas to allies in South-East Asia.
- Updated
- Jessica Sier
Sir Andrew Mackenzie: time to focus on the best few climate solutions
The Shell chairman says the world’s carbon challenge is harder than he realised while running BHP, and it’s time for a global focus on a few winning solutions
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
Nuclear debate can change the nation
Letters from readers on Peter Dutton’s nuclear push and gas exports.
