The partial ban on fracking in South Australia will remain, with Premier Steven Marshall telling energy chiefs of the need for a "social license" for the controversial process.
Mr Marshall told the Australian Petroleum and Production and Exploration Association's annual conference in Adelaide on Tuesday that the moratorium on fracture stimulation to release gas reserves in the state's southeast reflected community concerns.
He said his government did not want to see the same levels of acrimony in SA as those in Victoria and NSW over fracking and wanted the gas sector to grow, but with a "secure social license to operate".
The premier said as a best practice regulator the government had a role to play in developing the industry.
"Equally, your industry has its role to play in being ahead of the curve in addressing community concerns." Mr Marshall told the APPEA gathering.
"This challenge is unlikely to get any less complex."
At the same conference, federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan called on all state governments not to sit on or lock up potential gas reserves.
He urged them to ignore the often "ill-informed and ignorant" campaigns run against fracking and to "focus on the science".
"But, I must tell you science and logic doesn't always win political debates," the minister said.
"There is an emotional response against fracking and I understand that.
"We must also recognise that however strong those emotions are they'll be nothing compared to the emotion of people losing their jobs."
But Mr Marshall said the moratorium in the southeast did not remove the opportunity for the gas industry to continue to engage with the local community and reminded the sector that fracking was still permitted across the rest of SA.
