CSR signs up for Atlas gas from Senex

afr.com:

CSR signed up for gas from Senex Energy’s stalled $1 billion Atlas project in Queensland, underlining the depth of demand for fuel from a venture that still hinges on an extended exemption from the gas cap rules and federal environmental approval.

The building products maker, which wants to buy 17 petajoules of gas from Atlas over 10 years, is the eighth customer that has committed to buying gas from the field, following BlueScope, Visy and Orora, as well as all the major gas retailers, including AGL Energy and EnergyAustralia.

CSR CEO Julie Coates said the 10-year gas contract was important to give confidence about investment. Oscar Colman

The deals are all conditional on the Surat Basin project actually being built, something that cannot happen until Senex receives environmental approval.

The company, owned by South Korean steel giant Posco and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, is also seeking a “life of field” exemption for the gas from the new rules around gas caps, rather than a year-by-year arrangement, to provide more certainty for what is a multi-decade investment.

For CSR, which depends on gas at plants that manufacture plasterboard, insulation and bricks, the deal with Senex provides certainty for jobs and for future investment, according to CSR chief executive Julie Coates.

CSR signed its first gas contract tied to the first phase of the Atlas development in 2019, and it runs to 2024; the new supply will start in January 2025.

“Atlas is about Senex’s investment, but it’s also about us having confidence in investment into the future as well,” Ms Coates said.

“It’s obviously important that we have secure and reliable gas supply, particularly along the east coast: What that does for us, in addition to being