Gas project needed as soon as possible says Premier

Santos’ Narrabri gas project is needed as soon as possible, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said.

Mr Perrottet told 2GB Radio on Friday morning that he would be meeting with the company’s chief executive officer and managing director, Kevin Gallagher, this week.

The radio interview on Ben Fordham Live and subsequent meeting with Santos this week follows blame placed on the government for confusion and delays surrounding the $3.6 billion project.

“When I became Premier, I made it very clear that the Narrabri gas project is incredibly important for the people of our state,” the Premier
said.

Mr Perrottet said he had spoken to the head of the NSW Planning Department and was working through issues with Santos.

There were further documents that were received last week, the Premier said.

“I was notified that there seemed to be some confusion between the Planning Department and Santos,” he said.

The Premier’s meeting with Santos this week will be to see what issues exist and to get the matter resolved.

“I want this project up and running as soon as possible,” the Premier said.

“This project also has a reservation policy attached to it.

“This is gas for the people of NSW. It can provide gas for the next 30 years.”

The Independent Planning Commission approved the project in September 2020.

At the time of its approval, the commission said stringent conditions – 134 in total – would be imposed for the phased approval of a multibillion-dollar coal seam gas field in north-western NSW.

Santos sought development consent for up to 850 wells and infrastructure across the 95,000-hectare project area, which takes in the Pilliga State Forest and private farmland.

Two-hundred operational jobs and 1300 jobs during construction are expected to be created as a result of the project, Santos says.

In its statement of reasons for the decision, the Independent Planning Commission said: “Following its detailed deliberations, the commission concludes the project is in the public interest and that any negative impacts can be effectively mitigated with strict conditions.”

Environmental advocacy groups, however, have said the project is “destructive” and that the commission did not assess the project’s climate impacts fully.

Following the radio interview with the Premier, Lock the Gate Alliance demanded the NSW Perrottet government refrain from influencing the assessment process for Santos’ coal seam gasfield in the Pilliga Forest and surrounding farmland.