What is natural gas?

Gas is a reliable, cleaner-burning fuel. It is flexible and plentiful and underpins growing domestic and export production sectors.

Natural gas is also known as methane. It is found in several different types of rocks, including sandstone, coal seams and shales.

Uses of gas

Of all fuel types, gas offers the best combination of abundance, cleanness, affordability, reliability and flexibility.

Gas is used to generate electricity and to power appliances such as heaters and stoves.

It is also important in many industrial processes, including making fertilisers, glass, steel, plastics, paint, fabrics and many other products.

The Australian gas industry

Australia’s rapidly expanding gas industry is driving enormous investment in this country, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and delivering more than $7 billion a year in tax revenue.

Australia has an estimated 400 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves (enough to power a city of 1 million people for 8000 years). Geologists are optimistic that exploration will uncover more gas to add to this base.