Origin Energy : Gas supply boosted by new agreement

The nine-month agreement will commence in March 2018 and run through to the end of the year, providing additional gas to feed Origin's portfolio, which is one of the major suppliers to Australian households, large gas users such as manufacturers and gas-fired power stations.

Origin has agreed to purchase 100 per cent of output from the joint venture, which is expected to produce up to 14 petajoules of gas next year from the offshore Casino, Henry and Netherby fields in the Otway Basin.

Origin has now secured an additional 69 PJs of gas for 2018, including Casino Henry, 15 petajoules of gas from GLNG announced earlier this week and 41 petajoules from Australia Pacific LNG announced last month.

Origin Executive General Manager Energy Supply and Operations, Greg Jarvis said, 'Gas producers and retailers on the east coast continue to answer the call to bring more gas to the market to provide secure supply and help put downwards pressure on prices for the households and businesses that rely on gas each day.

'More supply coming in has already resulted in lower prices and we will continue to work on sourcing more gas, which is crucial to maintain downwards pressure on prices for customers.

Origin is a major supplier of gas on the east coast, signing more than 760 agreements with large customers in FY2017, as well as operating Australia's largest fleet of peaking gas-fired power stations.

'Large customers and households can be reassured that we're doing everything we can to make sure there's enough gas for domestic users and that it remains affordable,' Mr Jarvis said.

Cooper Energy (operator), Mitsui E&P Pty Ltd and AWE Limited