Since its commissioning in 1987, the Amadeus Gas Pipeline (AGP) has played an important role in powering Northern Territories communities and the local economy.

The AGP extends approximately 1,500 kilometres, from gas fields in the Amadeus Basin in central Australia, to Darwin. There are gas delivery points on the AGP at Darwin and other regional centres, where the gas is mainly used to fuel electricity generation. The AGP connects to APA’s East Coast Grid at Mount Isa, in Queensland, via the Northern Gas Pipeline.

The Amadeus Gas Pipeline is fully regulated, which means that prices for reference services and the terms and conditions are subject to regulatory oversight by the Australian Energy Regulator. The key regulation instrument is the pipeline’s Access Arrangement, which must be consistent with the national gas objective.

The national gas objective requires that we efficiently invest in, and efficiently operate, the AGP in the long-term interest of consumers. This is in line with the APA way and Customer Promise.

An access arrangement must be revised periodically. The AGP Access Arrangement for the current regulatory period must be revised by 30 June 2021. We are now preparing the revised access arrangement for the 2021-26 regulatory period.

In July 2019, APA held a workshop in Darwin to engage with stakeholders interested in services provided by the AGP. Following this, APA submitted a reference service proposal to the Australian Energy Regulator.

Before submitting the access arrangement revision proposal to the regulator on 1 July 2020, APA intends to hold a series of meetings with AGP stakeholders to hear their views and to answer any questions arising throughout this process. Our guiding principles for this engagement are:

  • No surprises: we want to reveal as much as possible about our plans ahead of making our submission to the regulator.
  • Clear, accurate and timely communication: we will aim to prepare information to allow sufficient time for you to consider and provide feedback.
  • Easy to understand: we will not become too technical and we will prepare information that can be read and understood by a wide audience.
  • Transparent: we will aim to be transparent about our thinking and plans but, as an ASX-listed company, there are rules about what we can and can’t make public.
  • Consumer influence: we aim to be open about what is and what isn’t open to consumer influence.
  • Measureable: we will seek your feedback on the engagement process and we will ask you to rate us on the above principles.

AGP Engagement Timeline

December 2019: Setting the Scene
February 2020: Getting to the Details
March 2020: Revenue and Pricing
April 2020: How You Shaped Our Thinking
Post July 2020: AER Draft Decision (dates confirmed after AER Draft Decision released)

Documentation

All AGP engagement documents are on this webpage.

Reference Service Decision

The Australian Energy Regulator has made its final decision for reference services to be included in the 2021–26 gas access arrangement period 1 July 2021 through 30 June 2026. The decision can be found here.

Contact

Please email [email protected] to ask any questions or provide feedback on the APA’s AGP Access Arrangement or community engagement plans; or to request an invite to an engagement session or to arrange a private consultation.