Surprise plan to pipe gas, but not from the Beetaloo

This time it is not the unproven Beetaloo basin's shale gas but the rich Amadeus gas field south west of Alice Springs to be tapped.

Proponents of the new gas pipeline say it would cost about $1 billion and negotiate 950km in a direct line to link with the existing Moomba pipeline in SA.

The plan is asking for taxpayer support to continue.

The NT Government has already taken the first steps to plot a route for a gas pipeline from Tennant Creek to Darwin.

According to maps provided in tender documents, the pipeline is expected to closely follow the path of the Stuart Highway through Katherine and Pine Creek.

This pipeline would link up with the $800 million gas pipeline between Tennant Creek and Mount Isa which was opened by Jemena in 2018.

The big energy companies like Origin Energy and Santos have rushed to the Beetaloo Basin, near Daly Waters, to continue deep drilling of shale gas and confirm their expectations of a large resource.

There is a gas pipeline, the 330km McArthur River pipeline, which penetrates into the Beetaloo area but it only has limited capacity.

With this latest proposal, Central Petroleum Limited has signed an agreement with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group and Macquarie Mereenie Pty Ltd to push for a Amadeus to Moomba gas pipeline.

Central currently supplies gas to customers in the NT and Mount Isa.

In order to sell gas into the southern parts of the east coast market, gas is transported more than 2200km via Mount Isa to Moomba.

The proposed pipeline would be less than half that distance, allowing for significantly lower gas transportation costs from the NT to the east coast via a direct pipeline connection to Moomba.

Designs for this new pipeline were drawn up back in 2015.

While the proponents say they have plenty of gas already, and more potential finds, "in the longer term, the AMGP (pipeline) could directly assist the east coast market by transporting gas from several large discovered offshore gas fields or the various unconventional exploration programs that are currently underway in the NT".

Central's CEO and managing director, Leon Devaney, said: "The implications of the AMGP project are huge, not just for Central and the NT, but for the entire east coast gas market.

"The AMGP is strongly aligned with various initiatives to boost east coast gas supply as traditional supplies from Bass Strait and the Cooper Basin decline.

"When you look at the distribution of untapped gas resources across Australia, the AMGP makes perfect sense given the large volumes of onshore and offshore gas available in the NT.

"What makes the AMGP stand out above other potential east coast supply proposals, is the pipeline efficiently connects significant known conventional gas reserves from proven producing fields to east coast demand centres from 2024 which is forecast to have gas supply shortages. The initiative should also stimulate new gas development from the NT's large and diverse array of prospective gas resources."