Newcastle Recently Discovered as a Site for Large Gas Reserve

Tuesday March 31, 2009

Newcastle is about to become a major site for a major Australian offshore gas reserve after $50billion worth of the resource was found 20 kilometres off Newcastle's coast.

Six years ago gas reserves were initially estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic feet however recently it was found through seismic data that the amount was in fact 16.3 trillion cubic feet.

Advent executive director David Breeze said if this figure was correct it would be a "substantial discovery".

"If we're successful in developing the area, it will rank among the largest discoveries in Australia," Mr Breeze told the Newcastle Herald.

The gas field covers 8100 square kilometres from northern Sydney to Newcastle including Catherine Hill Bay and Terrigal.

"Some areas of most interest are north of Catherine Hill Bay and some are south," Mr Breeze told Newcastle Herald.

He commented that hiring a drilling rig may be cheaper in the context of the economic crisis.

"We're negotiating access to drilling rigs at the moment and we have appointed environmental consultants and drilling engineers," he said.

He also said that supplying power stations with gas would help cut down our carbon footprint by generating electricity from gas rather than coal.

"There is significant demand for gas in NSW."

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