THE Australian Petroleum and Production and Exploration Association has hit back at the owners of the Dampier to Bunbury gas pipeline after they threatened legal action over plans to allow poorer quality gas to be pumped from gas fields. APPEA says only about 20 per cent of WA’s gas reserves fit within the tight quality guidelines, unless costly processing is done. The WA Economic Regulatory Authority has ruled that it is “in the public interest” to lower the quality of gas being put through the pipeline.