Major Gas Threat
Beetaloo Basin
Northern Territory
What is the Beetaloo Basin?
The Beetaloo Basin is a prospective ‘shale gas resource’ in the Northern Territory, covering 28,000 square kilometres of Aboriginal and pastoral land. There are multiple companies interested in fracking for oil and gas, including Origin, Santos, Falcon oil, Empire Energy and Hancock’s Jacaranda Minerals.
Traditional Owners and communities have said no to fracking the Beetaloo Basin, which would put land rights and water at risk, and drive dangerous climate change.
“Listen to our words, you and your company are strangers to these homelands, our sacred grounds. We don’t want fracking to continue on our land. It puts our environment, our culture, our water and our community at risk. We don’t want a gas pipeline running through our land because it damages our sacred sites. When will you stop this destruction and leave our lands?”
Ray Dixon, Mudburra Traditional Owner from the Roper region
How many emissions are in the Beetaloo Basin?
350 Australia’s Gas-tastrophe report projects total emissions from Beetaloo would equate to 393 million tonnes CO2 equivalent (CO2-e), equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 30 coal fired stations.
What will Beetaloo gas be used for?
Not only is Beetaloo gas projected to be expensive to produce, it will also be exported overseas rather than used for domestic purposes.
In a recent Senate inquiry, Santos admitted that the gas extracted from their Beetaloo leases will not be used domestically but exported overseas. Tracey Winters, Santos’ Strategic External Affairs Adviser, said: “The reality is the scale of investment required in the Beetaloo can’t be supported by the domestic market in Australia alone.”
Who’s investing in the Beetaloo Basin?
Through corporate loans to Santos and Origin Energy, the big four banks in Australia are all supporting companies that have plans to frack the Beetaloo Basin.
In addition, Macquarie Bank is a majority shareholder in ASX-listed Empire Energy – a company leading the push to frack the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.
Traditional Owner concerns
Traditional Owners have been fighting to protect country from fracking for 10 years.
According to Ray Dixon, Mudburra Traditional Owner from the Roper region, “Listen to our words, you and your company are strangers to these homelands, our sacred grounds. We don’t want fracking to continue on our land. It puts our environment, our culture, our water and our community at risk. We don’t want a gas pipeline running through our land because it damages our sacred sites. When will you stop this destruction and leave our lands?”
During the NT Independent Inquiry into fracking, the judge found that Aboriginal communities were overwhelmingly against fracking. We continue to see this resistance through elections, actions, community events and in the media. The Jumbunna Institute in 2017 found that many fracking companies failed to gain free, prior and informed consent from Traditional Owners before signing land agreements. Failure to provide interpreters, handpicking representatives and describing fracking wells as the size of billycans meant people could not fully consent to fracking on their country.
