In 2011, NT gas transmission pipelines had an annual throughput of 43 petajoules (PJ). The main pipelines in the NT are the Bonaparte Pipeline, Darwin to Amadeus Basin, Daly Waters to McArthur River Pipeline and the Palm Valley to Alice Springs Pipeline. Pipelines delivering natural gas to processing plants from offshore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities off the NT coastline were not included in the Audit.
The DEC from gas pipelines in the NT in 2011 was estimated to be $32 million.
The Audit projects an increase of $49 million in the DEC of gas pipeline infrastructure to $81 million in 2031, a rise of more than 150 per cent. Only Queensland and the NT are forecast to see DEC in the gas sector rise at a faster rate than economic growth.
The forecast high international demand for gas is expected to result in a structural shift in the Australian gas market. Australia's gas exports are predicted to increase from 56 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2012 to 130 BCM in 2020, driven mostly by the start of a number of LNG export terminals, particularly in Queensland. The majority of NT's gas production is currently exported via the ConocoPhillips Darwin LNG plant, although the Ichthys LNG terminal in Darwin will take the lead role when exports through it commence in late 2016.
The NT gas pipelines are not currently connected to any other network. However, there are proposals to connect the NT gas pipelines with the eastern Australia gas network. The NT has considerable conventional gas reserves in the Amadeus Basin (138 PJ) and the Bonaparte Basin (1,054 PJ).541 Exploration activities have also shown high prospectivity for unconventional gas in the McArthur, Beetaloo, and Georgina Basins.
________________________________________________________________________________________
541. APA Group (2013), p. 24