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Australia mulls rise in oil, gas profits tax

  • Spanish Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
  • 20/03/26

Australia's upstream oil and gas lobby has warned Canberra against raising taxes on the sector, arguing it could lead to worsening supply and higher energy prices if it harms investment.

Modelling has likely been commissioned to increase taxation on the gas industry ahead of the May federal budget, as global energy prices soar, a source with knowledge of the matter told Argus.

The Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) is designed to tax profits produced from offshore fields, which fall under federal jurisdiction. The state onshore producers pay state government royalties as well as federal business taxes.

But this would only succeed in stopping investment in new supply, lead to gas shortfalls, higher prices and threaten Australian industries, Australian Energy Producers chief executive Samantha McCulloch said on 20 March.

"While international gas prices have surged, Australian gas prices remain relatively low, and the market is well-supplied. We should not take this for granted," McCulloch said.

Mild weather has resulted in Australia's gas demand remaining muted in recent weeks, with ample supply available and restocking of gas storages underway. But high international spot LNG prices due to the US-Iran war may eventually impact domestic markets, as replacement cargoes are sought by Asian buyers.

The Argus-assessed AWX for month-ahead spot gas deliveries to Wallumbilla and the AVX for month-ahead spot gas to Victoria were both A$11.05/GJ today, both also rising A$0.015/GJ from a week ago — the third consecutive week the AWX has remained flat to the AVX.

This compares to the Argus Gladstone fob price — an LNG netback indicator calculated by subtracting freight and costs associated with production from the delivered price of LNG to Asia-Pacific — which was A$31.74/GJ ($23.56/mn Btu) on 19 March, up from A$19.72/GJ a year earlier.

Taxation calls

The tax review comes three days after the influential Australian Council of Trade Unions, a key funder of the ruling Labor party, called for the PRRT to be replaced with a 25pc levy on revenue from LNG exports.

Tax reform is on the government's agenda, federal energy minister Chris Bowen said today, praising treasurer Jim Chalmers for his changes to the PRRT brought in two years ago. But Bowen refused to offer more details, saying he does not comment on cabinet processes.

Under those 2024 budget measures, changes to the PRRT cut the percentage of taxes able to be avoided through deductions for spending on project development to 90pc each year.

Australia gas prices A$/GJ

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