Cooper Energy has signed a gas supply agreement with packaging and resource recovery company Visy to supply 7.6PJ of gas over three years starting from early 2020.
Gas from the Sole gas field, from the Gippsland Basin offshore Victoria, will be supplied from the Orbost Gas Plant at a price in line with current market prices, indexed annually.
Cooper Energy Managing Director, David Maxwell, said the agreement with industrial gas user Visy demonstrates Cooper Energy’s support for all domestic demand segments.
“Visy joins O-I Australia as the second large industrial manufacturer supplied by Cooper Energy. We are delighted to add another industrial user of gas to our customer portfolio under a multi-year supply agreement.”
Visy Executive General Manager, Global Procurement, David Abela, said, “Visy appreciates the support and engagement from Cooper Energy to help secure supply during tough east coast gas conditions. We are delighted to explore opportunities that the new partnership presents.”
The Sole gas field is poised to become south-east Australia’s newest source of gas supply when it commences production, upon completion of the Orbost Gas Plant upgrade currently being undertaken by APA Group.
Cooper Energy has completed the construction of the offshore development of the Sole gas field and APA is expected to conclude the plant upgrade works and commence commissioning and delivery of sales gas within the September 2019 quarter.
The Sole Gas Project will deliver an additional 68TJ per day of natural gas supply for south-east Australia.
Mr Maxwell said the Visy agreement follows recent agreements with AGL which contract 2019 Sole production and longer-term gas sales for the period 2020 to 2023. Discussions with customers on the contracting of the remaining 2019 Sole production are also underway.
APPEA Chief Executive, Andrew McConville, said the latest supply deal showed further evidence of the strong investment industry is making to increase gas flow into the east coast market.
“The industry takes its obligations to the domestic market seriously. This deal highlights the importance of developing new gas resources and the response industry is taking to accelerate delivery of more supply.
“This new agreement brings the total to 79 new publicly announced gas agreements signed since 2012 in Australia, showing the strong commitment the sector has for the domestic market. Together, these contracts total more than 4500PJ of gas.”
The industry has announced billions of dollars in new investment to bring more gas to market, supporting domestic gas consumption and export projects that are underpinning Australia’s economic growth.
“More gas supply into the domestic market helps make a significant difference to the millions of homes and thousands of businesses that use gas.
“The best way to place downward pressure on gas prices and to improve energy security is having more gas supply and more gas suppliers. This should be the focus of all governments.”
