Coal seam gas (CSG) is an unconventional gas source that often requires highly invasive extraction methods, including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking). While CSG has made up a small part of Australia’s gas supply mix since the late 90s, production has increased drastically in the past few years, and with it the threat of many more CSG projects going ahead in the near future.

At the end of 2013, Queensland was home to approximately 5,500 CSG producing wells, however this number is projected to grow to over 14,000 by the end of 2020. Similarly, NSW CSG production is expected to increase dramatically if two major proposed projects go ahead. AGL’s Gloucester gas project is expected to produce up to 30 petajoules (PJ) per annum over its 30-year lifespan, and Santos’ Narrabri project up to 73PJ per annum over 25 years. Together, these two NSW projects’ annual production would amount to around 40% of the total CSG produced in Queensland during the 2013-14 financial year.

The massive increase in CSG production is largely due to the development of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities on Curtis Island in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area near Gladstone, Queensland, which are to be supplied with gas from unconventional sources in eastern Australia.