The NSW government is continuing its efforts to defuse the issue of coal seam gas before the state election with the buy-back and cancellation of CSG licences in the state.
Two Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELs) have been bought in the Northern Rivers, the government said on Monday, while AGL Energy earlier in the day said it was selling back to the NSW government one of its gas exploration licences covering nearly 400 square kilometres from Wyong to Morisset on the NSW Central Coast
AGL said the project was not commercially viable.
The Greens, however, want to know how much the buy-backs are costing taxpayers.
The government won't release final figures until the end of the program in mid-March, but some media reports have quoted last week's purchase of a CSG exploration licence covering part of the Sydney Basin at $200,000.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said small players are cashing out of the CSG game.
"With public opinion set against coal seam gas and the oil price in the doldrums, the licences being cancelled by the government are essentially worthless," he said in a statement on Monday.
"The areas being cancelled are also where CSG is least advanced and least likely to be developed. This is a pre-election taxpayer-funded bailout of small gas companies, while the government paves the way for Santos and AGL to develop their toxic gas fields."
CSG is an issue both the state Liberal government and Labor opposition are working to offset in the lead-up to the NSW election on March 28.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley, who's touring the Central Coast on Monday, last week targeted seats in far north NSW, where he proposed a CSG moratorium across the state.
He said it would include a ban on activity on the north coast and in sensitive water catchment areas in Sydney.
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