‘Let’s put the record straight’ suggests reader

At the risk of being branded a person ‘that hysterically and emotionally peddles misinformation by the vocal unrepresentative minority that opposes the Santos Narrabri Gas project’, a claim made by an anonymous person hiding behind the veil of Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down, The Courier, December 5, 2019, I must correct some of the claims being made in The Courier lately, that are blatantly misleading.

Many surveys have been done asking whether people support or oppose the Santos Narrabri Gas Project.

The number who support the project has never been greater than 30 per cent of those surveyed, compared to double this number who oppose the project, and of course, there are a few who do not want to be involved.

One survey was conducted by a CSIRO research organisation: GISERA which is partly funded by Santos.

This is a poor result for the pro gas supporters particularly when you consider the estimated $millions in sponsorship given to community groups to help gain their support.

It is a false claim in the Thumbs Up column, that we who question the CSG industry are the minority.

It is one on a long list of similar false statements.

The Courier editorial, November 28, 2019, quotes a CSIRO study on ‘fugitive green house emissions’ from CSG representing 0.02 percent of the volumes extracted.

The Courier editorial claimed this did not constitute a problematic issue at these levels.

This is not the first time this section of the report has been cherry picked and published in order to mislead the public.

The CSIRO report quoted in the editorial, goes on to say their measurements were limited to well heads only, excluding the range of other infrastructure involved in a gas field that continuously leaks methane. Is this responsible journalism?

On page 3 of The Courier, December 5, 2019, the headline is: NSW could ‘run out of gas’ without saying why.

Below is an extract from a recent Pegasus Economics report that explains why we could run out of gas, remembering Australia is possibly the largest exporter of gas in the world.

‘Santos and the Santos-led Gladstone LNG project have been significant contributors towards an impending gas shortfall in NSW, as the project did not possess sufficient gas resources to justify its investment decision for a second LNG train.

‘In turn, they have diverted substantial volumes of gas from domestic users to satisfy their export contracts, contrary to previous claims that they
would not’.

‘Santos has used the pretext of looming gas supply shortages in NSW as a fulcrum to garner regulatory approval for its Narrabri Gas Project, without acknowledging the central role it played in creating the circumstances that it claims the Narrabri Gas Project will help to alleviate’.

As a result, we have the ridiculous situation where Australia now proposes to import gas.

Journalism should not fall into the trap of regurgitating the Santos well rehearsed spin.

I apologise for any hysteria and emotional information provided in this letter!

Stuart Murray, Narrabri