Gas industry overview

Gas is a vital energy source for Queensland's industrial and manufacturing sectors. It is also used in electricity generation throughout Queensland, and is a major new export industry, based on the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Queensland's gas resources.

The term 'gas' is used to describe natural gas, which is mostly methane — a naturally occurring gas. Conventional natural gas is found and produced with other petroleum products such as oil. Coal seam gas (CSG) is found and produced from the cleats and fractures of coal seams. While the location and production method is different, natural gas produced from conventional gas fields and CSG gas fields is the same product.

LNG is CSG that has been cooled to the point it becomes a liquid and is able to be safely stored and transported. The process of extracting gas and converting CSG to LNG is commonly broken into 3 industry classifications:

  • upstream: the process of surveying, drilling, extracting, processing and compressing CSG
  • midstream: the pipeline linking gas fields to the LNG plant
  • downstream: the process of converting the gas into a liquid for shipment and export.

Another form of gas used in households and industry is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). LPG is a mix of the gases propane and butane and is stored and transported in metal canisters (gas bottles) as a liquid. LPG is produced by collection of butane and propane produced with conventional natural gas, and also as a by-product from the oil refining process. Its most common use is as a fuel for barbeques and stoves.

Customers wishing to connect to a reticulated gas network should contact their local gas or energy retailer. The relevant retailer will be able to confirm whether gas is available to your street.

This guide provides an industry overview of the gas industry in Queensland. View a visual overview of the petroleum and gas supply chain (PDF, 999KB).