Australian regulator sounds alarm over domestic gas prices

The ACCC is struggling to ensure domestic consumers are offered terms that are even close to those available to export customers

Australia’s competition watchdog has voiced concern over high domestic natural gas prices, arguing the burden of bringing them down should sit with the country’s LNG exporters. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) pointed to a growing disparity between LNG netback prices and those paid by domestic consumers, with Australian buyers reportedly paying A$2-5/GJ ($1.4-3.7/GJ) more than their international peers. One solution would be for the government to extend a heads of agreement (HoA) it signed with LNG producers in October 2017 beyond its 2020 deadline, according to ACCC chairman Rod Sims. This included gas exporters committing to offering enough fuel to cover expected d