<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Domestic </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/energy" rel="" target="_blank" title="gas producers"><span>gas producers</span></a><span> will be made to reserve up to 25 per cent of production for the Australian market under the federal government's east coast gas reservation plan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/chris-bowen" rel="" target="" title="Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen"><span>Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen</span></a><span> said the landmark gas policy announced today would push down prices and fortify the east coast industry by engineering a "slight oversupply".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The scheme has been earmarked to begin in 2027 but will be applied prospectively to new contracts from today.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bondi-shooting-nsw-premier-chris-minns-delivers-major-firearm-reforms-in-state/f3c4d334-51a1-41d6-ae9f-1e5d8a500700" rel="" target="_blank" title="'Toughest firearm reforms' in Australia to be introduced in NSW"><strong><span>'Toughest firearm reforms' in Australia to be introduced in NSW</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/boxing-day-test-ashes-melbourne-victoria-police-semi-automatic-guns/842bcd21-d3cc-49af-a443-470fffa78808"><strong><span>Police to carry semi-automatic guns for Melbourne's Boxing Day Test</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chief among the key principles of the scheme is a requirement that exporters will reserve between 15 and 25 per cent of gas production for the local market.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bowen said this would represent around 200 to 350 petajoules of gas per year.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/east-coast-gas-plan-confirmed-chris-bowen/f26d01bd-e7ca-405c-a39e-044726e736f3" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We believe that this is good policy based on our experience from Western Australia over recent decades, which has developed a strong and robust gas industry which has exported but has also catered for Western Australia's needs," Bowen said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to provide certainty to Australian industry that contracts entered into from today will need to ensure adequate domestic supply going forward."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bowen said the scheme would put "downward pressure" on gas costs but could not confirm an expected figure.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bowen said that it made "no sense" that Australia could be one of the largest gas producers in the world and still experience a shortfall.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/christmas-trading-hours-2025-what-stores-are-open-during-holiday-period/18546031-384b-4039-9b0f-a2b3f1db26b5" target="" title="Christmas trading hours 2025: When stores are open on Boxing Day and over the New Year"><strong><span>Christmas trading hours 2025: When stores are open on Boxing Day and over the New Year</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Most Australians think that Australians should have first rights to that's under Australian soil," he added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And that gas should be available to Australians at reasonable prices. Australians are right about that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-exported-20-years-worth-of-gas-in-five-years-while-facing-domestic-shortages/d00d6ee5-64dd-4a98-ae9d-7b9ef6708be9" rel="" target="_blank" title="A report handed down last month claimed that Australia has exported enough gas"><span>A report handed down last month claimed that Australia has exported enough gas</span></a><span> to supply domestic needs for two decades.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The report also found that Australians pay between four and seven times more for gas than other large, gas-producing nations, including the US, Russia, Qatar, and Canada.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The federal government commissioned a six-month review of the market earlier this year as the country faced a looming gas shortage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The scheme will be designed in consultation with the industry, international partners and the community next year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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