Giving away gas to 2030
Authors
Media release
Gas giveaway: $170 billion for gas companies to 2030, $0 for Australians
Over half of Australia’s gas exports are given away, without payment of royalties or Petroleum Resource Rent Tax. Over the last four years, multinational companies made $170 billion exporting gas they got for free. Based on Federal Government forecasts, to 2030 another $170 billion of liquified natural gas will be exported based on free gas.
Previous Australia Institute research estimated that 56.2% of Australia’s gas exports pay no royalty, while Federal Treasury has stated that “To date, not a single LNG project has paid any Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) and many are not expected to pay significant amounts of PRRT until the 2030s.”
This meant that over the four years to 2023-24, gas companies exported $149 billion worth of liquified natural gas (LNG) based on Australian gas that they obtained without royalty or PRRT payment.
This briefing note updates these calculations based on the latest commodity forecasts by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER).
These forecasts were published in Resources and Energy Quarterly: March 2025.
This briefing note focuses on LNG volumes and dollar figures.
It is important to remember that gas is a fossil fuel and its extraction and use are driving climate change.
The year 2030 is important in climate change discussions as it is the year that national