- The Guardian
- Issue #2154
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves blasting huge volumes of water mixed with toxic chemicals and sand deep into the earth to fracture rock formations and release oil and natural gas. This extreme form of energy production, notorious for contaminating water systems and agricultural land, has devastated local communities and ecosystems in the US. Fracking poses such devastating environmental and health risks that it has been banned in Victoria, Tasmania, and 15 countries worldwide. It poisons our water, contaminates our air, and emits massive greenhouse gas pollution including large amounts of methane, a dangerously potent greenhouse gas.
Many of the chemicals released during fracking can cause cancer in humans. Others harm the skin or reproductive system. They are also known to make their way into aquifers and drinking water.
“To prevent catastrophic climate change, we must leave about 80 percent of proven fossil fuel reserves in the ground. Fracking takes us in the opposite direction, opening up vast new deposits of fossil fuels,” the US Center for Biological Diversity warns. “If the fracking boom continues, oil and gas companies will light the fuse on a carbon bomb that will shatter efforts to avert climate chaos.”
Australia has a whopping carbon bomb in the making in the Northern Territory. Beetaloo Basin’s main prospective operators, Empire Energy and Tamboran Resources, are already progressing through exploration and pilot phases, with initial gas production likely this year. APA Group, Australia’s largest gas pipeline operator, plans to build gas pipelines for Beetaloo Energy Australia (formerly Empire Energy) and Tamboran Resources, facilitating what is intended to be Australia’s biggest ever fracking development.
Analysis by Market Forces clearly demonstrates:
- Gas from Beetaloo fracking for domestic gas power generation needs is not needed.
- Beetaloo fracking plans are costly, highly polluting and unnecessary.
- The astronomical costs would be passed on to consumers on Australia’s east coast.
- Australia doesn’t have a gas supply problem – it has an LNG export problem.
- Despite claims that fracking Beetaloo would benefit the domestic market, its plans would see 83% of the gas it fracks exported.
“The burning of fracked gas from Beetaloo would worsen the climate crisis and drastically undermine Australia’s climate commitments, when we need to transition to clean energy solutions,” Market Forces says. “If Beetaloo proceeds at full-scale, as the gas companies intend, Beetaloo would become one of Australia’s largest and highest emitting gas fields, operating until almost 2070. Burning the gas reserves from Beetaloo would produce an estimated 1.1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, equal to Australia’s largest coal plant, Eraring, operating for more than 83 years.”
There is strong opposition to fracking in the Beetaloo Basin from Traditional Owners, including the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, as well as local farmers and landholders. In 2024, it was reported that Empire Energy “failed to report a find of ancient Indigenous stone tools near one of its [gas] exploration wells to the [Northern Territory’s] heritage regulator.”
What can you do? Beetaloo and APA need finance to operate. Whether you bank with Macquarie, ANZ, CBA, Westpac or NAB or not, you can pressure them to cease financing the fracking of Beetaloo or APA’s pipeline. Macquarie is a major funder of both leading Beetaloo developers, Empire Energy, and Tamboran Resources. ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac have all contributed millions of dollars to the financing of APA.
Add your name to an open letter and join thousands of Australians calling on the banks to stop funding the companies working to detonate the Beetaloo carbon bomb! The letter is at marketforces.org.au.
