Gas is now flowing from the Beetaloo Basin, a vast fossil fuel project roughly 500 kilometres southeast of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
Author
- Lily O’Neill
Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne
The basin is one of Australia’s largest onshore gas reserves , which the NT government estimates is capable of producing 430 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The Beetaloo is producing its first round of gas amid fanfare about the amount of royalties it could bring the NT. Proponents say the basin could generate more than A$17 billion and support 13,000 jobs over the next two decades. Already, there is talk of the economic opportunities that come with cheap energy, including powering energy-hungry data centres with shale gas.
For those who have long hyped the Beetaloo’s economic potential, this is welcome news. For scientists, environmental groups and communities around Australia and the world bearing the brunt of global warming, it represents a ” climate bomb “.
Remind me, what is the Beetaloo Basin?
The Beetaloo Basin is a vast, sparsely populated stretch of rolling plains that covers 28,000 square kilometres between Katherine and Tennant Creek.
In terms of gas reserves, the Beetaloo is bigger than Western Australia’s North West Shelf project, the nation’s largest fossil fuel development which accounts for more than 40% of Australia’s oil and gas production.
The Beetaloo Basin is covered with pastoral leases and different forms of Aboriginal tenure . Some of this tenure is the NT’s Aboriginal Land Rights Act land, which provides fairly strong rights for Traditional Owners. But most of the Aboriginal title in the basin is federal native title tenure that does not allow Traditional Owners to veto resource extraction.
Over several years, the developers of the Beetaloo – who now include Beetaloo Energy, Tamboran Resources and Santos – reached agreements with the Traditional Owners to frack their Country. But whether these agreements mean Traditional Owners actually consented to this fracking is hotly contested , given the Native Title Act is notorious for forcing Aboriginal groups into agreement.
Drawing in the dollars
The federal and territory governments have forked out significant money for the Beetaloo project.
At least $220 million has come from the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, the NT government has underwritten a $7.5 million loan to Tamboran Resources, a gas company found by a 2021 Senate inquiry to have then ” paid no tax ” in Australia. Other gas companies have also benefited from government largesse including Beetaloo Energy Australia, which received $15 million in taxpayer funds in 2024 alone.
The government has backed the Beetaloo for a range of reasons, including its potential to bring much-needed investment and jobs to the region.
However, it is extremely unlikely the project will deliver on these promises. A federal report, released only under freedom of information laws, found the benefits for Traditional Owners are ” uncertain and variable “.
Not worth the hype
The climate crisis means the Beetaloo Basin project has two critical drawbacks.
A ‘stranded asset’
In this context, a “stranded asset” is a fossil fuel project – such as a coal mine or gas pipeline – that quickly loses its value because of the global transition away from fossil fuels. Research suggests demand for liquefied natural gas will decline as early as the mid-2030s. This, combined with dubious employment benefits, means the government is highly unlikely to get a good return on its Beetaloo investments.
An unliveable region
Recent research shows fracking in the Beetaloo would produce the equivalent of up to 49 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – about 11% of Australia’s total emissions in 2021. What’s more, Beetaloo gas projects are only required to offset 5% of their emissions with carbon credits . That’s nowhere near enough to compensate for the environmental damage they will cause.
Climate forecasts suggest many parts of the NT will become unliveable within decades, due to the lethal heat caused by climate change. The NT News headline, “NT will be cooking with Beetaloo gas”, sums this dilemma perfectly, if accidentally. The irony of this headline won’t be lost on anyone who is familiar with the science.
No amount of jobs or money can compensate for this devastating future. By turning on the Beetaloo tap, we risk watching the climate crisis worsen before our very eyes.
