ABC NEWS 13 November 2014:
Metgasco is unlikely to take up any offer from the State Government to buy back its licence to operate in the Northern Rivers.
Today's CSG policy announcement included provisions for a one-off buy back scheme of previously approved licences.
But Metgasco managing director, Peter Henderson, said the company has spent too much time and money in the region to walk away now.
Metgasco media release 14 November 2014:
Response
to NSW Government Gas Plan
Metgasco
Limited welcomes the NSW Government’s recognition that gas supplies are
essential to the future of NSW and that the gas industry can be managed safely.
Metgasco is,
however, concerned about the repeated changes in regulation and policy since
the current Government came to office and the uncertainty the latest
announcement has created.
In March 2011
the NSW Government effectively put a hold on the industry while it created new
regulations, which included a Strategic Land Use Policy and a myriad of other
regulations. In September 2012 it announced that the industry had the
toughest standards in the world and gave the green light for exploration and
development to proceed. It correspondingly renewed exploration licences
and announced the approval of Metgasco’s first production licence (just south
of Casino).
Since then it
has taken a number of actions which have had the effect of stifling the
industry.
The new
policy announcement does not sufficiently clarify the business and regulatory
environment for the gas industry in NSW. Business needs a degree of
certainty to justify expenditure. We now have new rules and
regulatory responsibilities, many of which will not be defined until well into
2015, uncertainty about the rules for land holder compensation and some
indication that the royalty regime might change to encourage exploration.
Metgasco has
invested approximately $120 million over the past ten years exploring for
natural gas in NSW and has established the second largest gas resource in the
state. It did so with the expectation that its exploration rights would
be respected.
Metgasco is
seeking a meeting with the Minister for Resources and Energy to clarify the impact
of the new policy on the potential of the significant gas resource in the
Northern Rivers region.
It is
important that the NSW Government sends a message to all investors that NSW is
a place in which investment can be made with confidence.
Metgasco Limited's ordinary share price is languishing at five cents.
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