DoIR confident of sales to US and Mexico

Western Australian Department of Industry and Resources deputy head Gary Stokes is confident the state will supply liquefied natural gas to the US west coast.

“There is no doubt in my mind that California and Mexico have a very strong interest in Australian LNG,” Mr Stokes said following a recent trip to both countries where he met with government officials to discuss their countries’ rising energy needs.

Mr Stokes said the timing of WA’s supply coming online matched very well with the timing of the demand coming online on the US west coast.

Global oil and gas companies involved in developing WA-based LNG projects are currently pursuing significant opportunities in US and Mexico.

Mr Stokes said Mexico, with which Australia recently signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding to cooperate on energy issues, was very exciting.

“It [Mexico] is looking at a whole range of developments, such as petrochemical plants on the Baja Peninsula,” he said

In California, where there has been some opposition to LNG imports, Mr Stokes said the Californian administration was reassuring. Without importing LNG, California would not meet its energy targets, he said.

“The administration is aware of that, it is just a matter of convincing the public,” he said.

The Americans were particularly impressed by the Gorgon development on Barrow Island, he said.

“The CO2 [carbon dioxide] sequestration and the triple bottom line assessment … projects there are not assessed on a triple bottom line basis.”

But Mr Stokes suggested a change in marketing approach.

“They [California public] don’t understand LNG. It should be refocused as natural gas,” Mr Stokes said.