Resources minister faces calls to correct her claim all Beetaloo emissions will be offset

The Beetaloo gas basin is a large onshore gas region south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. It contains shale gas that companies aim to extract through unconventional gas methods, including fracking. Its development matters because the gas is intended to supply Australia’s east coast and export markets, while creating major questions about climate pollution.

Development is more than drilling wells. It includes extracting the gas, processing it, transporting it and eventually burning it. The article reports that the first gas was pumped from the basin last month. Resources Minister Madeleine King called it a very important resource for the territory and for energy supply.

The basin is being developed after the 2018 Pepper inquiry examined whether fracking should be allowed in the Northern Territory. That inquiry made 135 recommendations, including a condition that emissions from onshore shale gas development should not increase Australia’s total emissions. The dispute now concerns whether current rules meet that condition.

King claimed the emissions were accounted for and offset because she believed the Northern Territory government had adopted the Pepper inquiry’s recommendations. Speaking at the National Press Club, she said, “My understanding from those recommendations is that the emissions are accounted for and offset, but I would have to check that.”

She also said the federal safeguard mechanism would apply to Beetaloo developments if they emitted more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Her explanation treated that mechanism as the country’s way of managing emissions. The mechanism, however, covers pollution directly produced at qualifying facilities.

The article reports that the Northern Territory does not require Beetaloo emissions to be fully offset. Research by Tim Baxter found about 95% of expected emissions from four projects this decade would not need offsetting. King’s spokesperson nevertheless said successive territory governments had accepted and implemented all 135 Pepper recommendations.

The Pepper inquiry recommended that onshore shale gas development should not increase Australia’s total emissions. In practice, this means every relevant emission from a gas project would need to be balanced through carbon credits. The recommendation matters because gas pollution occurs across the fuel’s entire lifecycle, not only at the extraction site.

The lifecycle covered by the recommendation includes gas extraction, processing, transport and use. The article says the Northern Territory and Australian governments should aim to ensure developments did not increase the country’s total emissions. Tim Baxter said the inquiry was clear that all emissions occurring in Australia must be fully offset before the risks of fracking could be managed.

Current arrangements do not match that standard, according to the article. The Northern Territory dropped a full-offset requirement after industry objections, and its Country Liberal government maintained that position after taking office in 2024. The dispute is therefore about whether governments implemented the inquiry’s central emissions condition.

About 95% of the emissions expected from four Beetaloo gas projects this decade would not be required to be offset under current arrangements. That figure comes from research by Tim Baxter of the consultancy Naru Research. It highlights the gap between the Pepper inquiry’s full-lifecycle recommendation and the rules now applied.

The difference comes mainly from what counts as an emissions obligation. The federal safeguard mechanism applies to operations that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. It covers pollution directly produced by a facility, rather than emissions from extracting, processing, transporting and burning the gas across its lifecycle.

The estimate means only a small share of the projects’ expected emissions would face offset requirements. The article reports that Baxter said King was either not across her brief or intentionally misleading. Environmental groups said the arrangement gives frackers a free pass on climate emissions and could undermine Australia’s efforts to cut pollution.

The federal safeguard mechanism and the Pepper inquiry use different boundaries. The safeguard mechanism applies to operations emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. It requires action on pollution directly produced at the facility, rather than on every emission connected with the fuel.

The Pepper inquiry’s recommendation was broader. It covered emissions from extraction, processing, transport and burning the gas. The aim was to ensure onshore shale gas development did not increase Australia’s total emissions. That would require purchasing enough carbon credits to fully offset the project’s climate pollution.

The article says the safeguard mechanism will apply to Beetaloo facilities above the threshold, but it will not deliver the Pepper inquiry’s full-lifecycle standard. Baxter estimated that about 95% of emissions from four projects this decade would not need offsetting. The dispute centres on whether the narrower federal rule fulfils the earlier recommendation.

If Beetaloo emissions are not fully offset, pollution from extracting, processing, transporting and burning the gas remains an addition to the atmosphere. The climate impact therefore extends beyond the emissions directly released at a gas facility. This is why the Pepper inquiry focused on the full lifecycle rather than only on-site pollution.

The article gives a striking estimate from Santos. If the Beetaloo basin were fully developed and its gas burned, the resulting emissions could be 60 times what Australia releases into the atmosphere each year. That estimate includes the gas’s use, not merely the operation of extraction facilities.

Environmental researchers and groups warn that this could undermine national emissions cuts. Tim Baxter said NT fracking could single-handedly undo efforts to reduce Australia’s climate emissions. Kirsty Howey called the failure to fully act on the Pepper recommendations one of the greatest failures of climate policy in history.

Carbon offsets are credits used to balance greenhouse gas emissions. In general, buying an offset supports a claimed emissions reduction or removal elsewhere, so the purchaser treats an equivalent amount of pollution as balanced. The article itself does not explain the projects behind offsets, so this definition uses established general knowledge.

For fossil fuels, offsets could be used to counter pollution from extracting, processing, transporting and burning the fuel. The Pepper inquiry’s recommendation would require enough carbon credits to cover those emissions fully. Its goal was to prevent onshore shale gas development from increasing Australia’s total emissions.

The article says the Northern Territory does not currently require Beetaloo emissions to be fully offset. The federal safeguard mechanism covers only direct facility pollution above 100,000 tonnes annually. As a result, most expected emissions from four projects this decade would not need offsetting under current arrangements.