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Western Australia’s Energy Minister Bill Johnston says his state’s policy of holding back gas from being exported had shielded it from soaring energy prices on the east coast.

“There is actually no national energy crisis,” he told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne.

Western Australian Energy Minister Bill Johnston.Credit:Tom Rovis-Hermann

“Maybe there are some troubles over here on the east coast, but there is none in Western Australia, which is about a third of the country. And the reason for that is we’ve had sensible policies to provide stable outcomes.”

In Western Australia the state government requires gas exporters to set aside 15 per cent of production for local buyers only, unlike the rest of the country.

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As wholesale power and gas prices have been soaring across the eastern seaboard amid a burst of cold weather, coal-fired power station outages and rising commodity prices, manufacturers and unions have been calling for intervention in the gas market to shore up local supplies.

The federal government can intervene in the market under the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM), which empowers Resources Minister Madeleine King to redirect exports into the local market.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen this week said the policy was “not a short-term answer”.

Stephen Harty, the head of Santos’ part-owned GLNG liquified gas venture in Queensland has warned against calls for the government to enact the policy.

“Regulatory intervention at this stage would do little to help the situation in Victoria or NSW while at the same time causing significant harm to Australia’s reputation as a reliable energy supplier,” he said.

Other oil and gas executives speaking at the Credit Suisse energy conference in Sydney on Tuesday pointed out WA’s gas reservation scheme had been implemented largely before long-term investments had been locked in.

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