Empire Energy pens 10-year gas supply deal with Northern Territory Government
More dollars for the local economy that's the pitch offered to residents of the Northern Territory after Northern Territory Labor signed a ten-year deal with empire energy to supply fracked gas from the Beetaloo Basin. While the government is adamant the deal will go ahead, empire is yet to clear its regulatory approvals.
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00:00Gas bagging with constituents at this year's show, but it wasn't just treats and trinkets
00:08being offered by NT Labor today.
00:10In the territory show bag we have gas.
00:13The Chief Minister signing a deal with Empire Energy to supply fracked gas from the Beetaloo
00:19Basin for the next 10 years, spruced it as a way to keep lights on and power bills down.
00:26It means jobs for Territorians, it means revenue, it means royalties.
00:31Empire has been conducting exploration in the Beetaloo with drilling well and truly
00:35underway with plans to reach commercial production by mid next year.
00:40We expect that this announcement will facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars of investment
00:46into the Northern Territory economy.
00:49The government refusing to drill down into details about how much the gas will cost and
00:54what the NT will receive in royalties.
00:57So that's part of the commercial incompetence agreement.
01:00Despite the government putting pen to paper, Empire is yet to get regulatory approval,
01:05including consent from traditional owners and clearing environmental hurdles.
01:10I think it's a really desperate ploy to get some kind of commitment from the NT government
01:15just coming into a pretty pivotal election.
01:17In a statement, the Nordalingie Aboriginal Corporation accusing both parties of ignoring
01:22traditional owners' fear for country and water from drilling more gas wells.
01:27For the next decade, Empire says the majority of the gas fracked under this deal will be
01:33provided to the NT government.
01:35But they've clearly got their sights set on bigger markets, starting with Australia's
01:40east coast.
01:41And that will bring royalties to the Northern Territory government, direct payments to traditional
01:47owners and a significant amount of work for local people and businesses.
01:52But not everyone is convinced the Betalu is the silver bullet for the Territory's financial
01:57woes.
01:58Massive investments still need it to get the project up and running.
02:01It's going to require a lot of public funding and now where is that money going to come
02:05from?
02:06They don't have big shareholders.
02:07As the world moves toward renewables, leaders urge to embrace clean energy.
02:12That would also create jobs and it would also attract manufacturing.
02:17Despite these concerns, today's announcement a clear sign the NT government is determined
02:22to power on, regardless.