Investment in natural gas exploration in Australia hit the highest in ten years amid the energy crunch caused by the war in the Middle East, totaling the equivalent of $329 million in the first quarter of the year, government data showed, as quoted by Reuters.
The publication cited Rystad Energy as forecasting a 10% increase in gas exploration investment for the full year, as the world’s second-largest LNG exporter doubles down on one of its best-selling commodities. This means the total spent on exploration in 2026 would top $1 billion.
“We’re seeing renewed interest in frontier and unconventional plays as modern techniques de-risk development,” Rystad Energy vice president Krishan Pal Birda said.
Earlier this year, the state of New South Wales launched its first natural gas exploration tender in ten years in response to the crisis, which has threatened domestic supply—already problematic in Australia’s most populous regions because of the boom in LNG exports.
Another state, Queensland, threw its support behind an oil project in yet another sign of energy security taking priority over other considerations, notably the shift from hydrocarbons to alternative sources of energy.
According to the Reuters report, gas exploration efforts are focused on three regions, including the Otway Basin offshore Victoria, the Beetaloo shale formation in the Northern Territory, and the Taroom Trough project in Queensland—the same that the government of the state endorsed in April. Taroom Trough would be the first new oil project in Australia to get approval in the last 50 years.
Australia’s shale resources are concentrated in the Beetaloo Basin, which is estimated to hold some 500 trillion cu ft of gas. It has been compared to the giant Marcellus shale play in the United States. The government of the Northern Territory is hoping that Beetaloo will turn it into another LNG production hub.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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