Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent

MELBOURNE, May 16 -- The Australian government may use the $2.5 billion (Aus.) gained over the next 4 years from the imposition of excise taxes on North West Shelf condensate production to pay for a new round of assistance to get other struggling multibillion dollar gas project proposals off the ground (OGJ Online, May 14, 2008).

Commenting on the step in this week's Federal Budget to remove the NWS project's exemption from paying crude oil excise on condensate produced with the gas, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said the exemption was granted 25 years ago in a bipartisan agreement to help establish the NWS project. However, today, at a time of record oil prices and rising LNG prices, the exemption can no longer be justified.

"Clearly this project is now mature, profitable, and no longer reliant on investment incentives for its ongoing health," he said.

"Meanwhile, new gas [proposals] such as Gorgon, Browse, and Sunrise are struggling to get off the ground, and it is therefore time to reassess and even up the playing field for investment."