Tamboran Resources has opened its Shenandoah South pilot gas project, marking the start of a long-term take-or-pay sales contract with the Northern Territory (NT) Government.
“We have secured [Shenandoah South] gas at a fixed price the Government is extremely satisfied with, [and] locked [it] in for the next decade,” NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said on 1 September.
The NT Government’s deal with Tamboran will put downward pressure on energy prices over time, help curb price increases, and help reinforce gas reliability, Finocchiaro said.
Tamboran will sell 40 TJ/day of Shenandoah South gas – equivalent to about two-thirds of NT’s gas demand – to the Government at a fixed, inflation-adjusted price until at least 2035, the company told investors in April 2024. The NT Government can extend the deal until 2042, the company added at the time.
Tamboran has begun to pump Shenandoah South gas down APA’s Stuart Plateau pipeline, which links NT’s gas-rich Beetaloo Basin to Darwin. The company also plans to link its Beetaloo Basin operations to existing East Coast gas pipeline networks to support increased domestic sales, it told investors on 31 August.
Producers sold gas to East Coast customers at a 158% premium to international benchmarks in July-December 2025, data from Tamboran Resources and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) show. Contracted East Coast gas prices averaged $8,713/TJ (A$12,179/TJ) over that period.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has called on Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to ban fracking in the Beetaloo Basin because of its environmental impacts.
“Fracking is known to destroy groundwater aquifers essential for water supply and environmental flows,” ACF Head of Advocacy Gavan McFadzean said on 1 September. “If Beetaloo fracking scaled up to full production scale, it would unleash around 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon pollution over its lifetime,” McFadzean added.
By Avinash Govind