Project brief
The Narrabri Gas Project is seeking to develop natural gas reserves in the Narrabri area in northwest NSW.
The NSW Government is committed to a responsible and balanced approach to the development of gas resources, to ensure regional industries and communities will have reliable and affordable access to gas.
The NSW Government’s Future of Gas Statement released in July 2021 sets out a balanced approach for the future of gas exploration, production and supply in NSW.
In 2022, the NSW Government renewed four Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELs), being PEL 1, PEL 12, PEL 238 and PEL 427, over reduced areas.
The four renewed PELs remain subject to the NSW Government’s stringent petroleum exploration regulatory framework which considers the protection of the environment, recognises landholder rights, provides for access and compensation agreements, and establishes community consultation requirements.
The Department is currently assessing Petroleum Production Lease Applications (PPLAs) 13, 14, 15 and 16 (Act 1991), which are sought to develop gas resources that have been defined following exploration.
The production activities within PPLA 13 -16 were approved through the NSW planning system under State Significant Development approval under SSD-6456.
Next steps
PELs
Notwithstanding low impact activities such as geological mapping and surveying, or sampling using hand-held equipment, petroleum exploration activities must obtain an activity approval from the NSW Resources Regulator within the Department of Regional NSW - Mining, Exploration and Geoscience (MEG). Any such approval is subject to assessment in accordance with the comprehensive requirements of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act).
Recent activity approvals may be found on the Resource Regulator news page.
PPLAs
Prior to the NSW Government granting any authorities from the pending petroleum production lease applications, all requirements under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 must be met, including compliance with the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). There is currently a matter before the National Native Title Tribunal (Cth) regarding this project which requires resolution before the grant of any PPLAs.
Once all requirements have been completed, NSW Government will finalise consideration of and determine the applications accordingly.
Any future development will be required to comply with any conditions of the State Significant Development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and all conditions imposed through any instrument of grant for a Petroleum Production Lease. This will include conditions to mitigate environmental impacts.