ABSTRACT

This paper reflects on 10 years of research and experience in Queensland’s coal seam gas (CSG) development, focusing on social performance and outcomes for regional stakeholders. In this time, CSG operators have executed hundreds of land access and compensation agreements with landholders. Agreements, the contract between landholders and upstream operators, provide the legal framework for coexistence on overlapping tenure. Historically, the primary overlap of interests has been between farming and gas development, but there are also overlaps between CSG operations and coal mining areas and intensive agricultural interests such as feedlots, piggeries and regional towns that have had to be negotiated. Although trust in CSG companies has increased over time, and longitudinal social and economic indicators show regional benefits, there have been divisive issues around groundwater management, ‘gassy’ water bores, land and river gas seeps, and subsidence, where each have presented and continue to present challenges to landholders, communities, operators and regulators. Environmental performance, and particularly matters related to water quality and availability, are of critical importance to broader social performance. A qualitative assessment of CSG operations against the International Energy Agency’s Golden Rules of Gas shows that the industry scored well on the continuous improvement scale, with lower scores in community engagement and regional coordination. In summation, we identify lessons that can be learned from the CSG-liquefied natural gas industry around best practices and behaviours to avoid that are relevant to renewable energy developers, transmission projects and the critical minerals industry as they seek to expand throughout minerals provinces of Queensland.